Finding The Strength Within Her
by SuN-MoOn-ChiLd
Summary: Serena's friend and love hurt her, so she runs away to America where she meets someone new and starts her life over with some old bonds growing stronger and some new bonds forming. Not a SerenaDarien fic! -On hold-
1. Looking Back

One of my ideas I decided to play with and the story seemed good so far so I think I'm going to go with it! Hope you like!  
  
  
  
~*Finding The Strength Within: Chapter I*~  
  
  
  
It's dark and gloomy outside again, I hate these kinds of days, and it always makes me look back. Ever since then things in my life have been so hectic, with graduation then starting work at Moonlight Fashions, I haven't had the chance to think about it until now. How long has it really been? Five years, I've changed so much since then. I wonder how they are doing. Would they be mad if I came back now and told them all the secrets that I have been holding back. Maybe I shouldn't, they might not welcome me anymore. After all, I did leave them without any note saying I would be okay. Yet a part of me misses my family so badly. The only person who know of my where about was Andrew, the only person that I could confide in. I'm so ashamed of what happened though. I can't believe I fell for those stupid lies and ended up in the position I am now. If it weren't for my so-called "friends" and whom I thought was the love of my life, I'd still be at home with my loving family. I can't believe I fell for all the stupid lies.  
  
"Sere, everything okay in here?" asked one of my co-workers, interrupting my line of thought. I looked up to see the worried eyes of my savior, Jason had helped me through all my problems ever since the incident.  
  
"Yeah, fine!" I feigned a smile and closed my notebook quickly, making sure I saved my e-diary before I shut down. Jason shook his head and plopped into the seat before me. "So what's up big guy?" I asked, curious as to why he was here.  
  
"The boss said you've been a little weary lately," answered Jason with a concerned look on his face. "What's wrong babe?" he asked with a serious tone. "And don't tell me that b.s. of you being tired again, I know you better than that," he added.  
  
I hesitated to look up before answering him because I knew he could see the real reason behind my façade in my eyes. With a sigh, I gave in. "Okay, truth is, I've been thinking about them again," I admitted quietly.  
  
"Not again, how many times have I told you Sere? If you miss them that much, then pick up the phone and order yourself a ticket home!" replied Jason, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes at me. I chunked a wad of paper at him, recalling how we met.  
  
  
  
*flashback*  
  
Barely 18 years old and already leaving home without notice to a place I had nobody to depend on was a scary thought to me. I wandered the streets looking for work and learning my way around. I happened to bump into an old man who looked friendly enough, and he directed me towards all the businesses that were looking for help and where I could find a job with my high school diploma. I ended up getting a job helping a local fashion designer that was trying to make it big. I didn't get paid much but it was a job and I needed the money badly. That is where I met Jason, he was the promoter for the guy I worked for and he somehow took a liking to me.  
  
I found out that he too left home at an early age to make something of himself to prove to his family that he wasn't  
  
worthless. I told him of my problem and he helped me prepare for the life that I would soon enter. Andrew would fly over constantly to take care of me when I'd get sick. He even offered to be the one to walk me through life. But Jason was the to hold my hand and guide me that first year; I don't know what I would've done without his help. He provided me with a home and a great friend to lean on when I was in a bind. After the worse part was over, Jason enrolled me into fashion school and offered to help pay for it.  
  
*end flashback*  
  
"Maybe I will, but what will I do about..." I trailed off, thinking about the what ifs that could go wrong if I went home.  
  
"Don't worry, they won't shun you. And I guarantee that they'll love Keith!" exclaimed Jason, shaking me out of my daze. "Goodness woman, who could not love that girl!" he asked, laughing as I shook my head at him.  
  
"You're a nut, he's too much to handle for me!" I cried, thinking about all the nights I've lost sleep. True, everyone at work loved Keith, but that's because he laughed all the time. Who couldn't smile when they saw his eyes twinkling with joy. Keith came into my life shortly after I entered fashion school, it was something different at first and I'm still trying to adapt to him being in my life, but he's grown so much on me.  
  
"If you want, I'll go with you to help you settle in," offered Jason suddenly, snapping me back to reality. I couldn't believe my eyes, he has helped me so much already and now here he is, considering going back to Japan with me.  
  
"I don't know JP, you've got the new line coming out, and I have my deadlines coming up too!" I said, trying not to think too much about going home. "Maybe some other time, things are a little too hectic right now for me to just pick up and go, plus Keith isn't finished with classes yet," I added, trying to find a way out of the ridiculous idea.  
  
"Why do you do this to yourself?" Jason asked me with a sad look in his eyes. I hated it when he had that look, it always made me feel so guilty. He's given up so much to help me find my way out of the ditch I was in and I can't even find the gratitude to make him happy by letting go of my fears.  
  
"I'm sorry, I know it would make your whole life meaningful if I went back, but I can't, I don't even know where to start!" I yelled, shaken that I raised my voice at the guy who has been there for me through thick and thin. "I'm sorry, it's just so hard, I don't think I can handle the stress," I responded, fighting back the urge to fall to my knees and cry.  
  
"Sere, I told you so many times already. You don't have to do it alone, not with me around," said Jason, pulling me into an embrace. "I'm your strength remember!" he whispered into my ears, trying to sound goofy to get a grin out of me. Giving in, I broke down in tears and we sat there in my office just holding each other. After some time, Jason told me to head home and get some rest, so he had his driver give me a lift home since I wasn't feeling well. "Take tomorrow off if you need some time to yourself, I'll let the boss know you're sick," whispered Jason as he walked me to the car.  
  
"Thanks, I just need some time to think over this," I answered giving him a hug before getting in. As Jason shut the door   
  
behind me, I turned to see that same sad look in his eyes once again as he tapped the car, signaling for the driver to take off. 'I'm sorry Jason, I know this is hurting you, and it kills me too,' I thought to myself as the car drove off. As the building disappeared into the distance I drifted off to sleep, thinking about how I would go about things if I decided to go home. When I awoke, the driver had already opened the door for me and was calling out to me. I grabbed my bags and thanks him as I headed up to my apartment, it was a cozy little loft just a short distance from Central Park. "I'm home!" I called out to no one in particular, knowing that Keith was with some friends so I was home alone, buy it's something that I've grown accustomed to since I was young. I lit some aroma therapy candles to relax my mind while I soaked myself in a warm bath and thought about everything that's been bottled up in my head for the past five years.  
  
Over the years, Jason has developed feelings for me, and I honestly don't know if I can return them. I feel bad about not having any affection for him, I thought that I would've felt some kind of love after all the help that he's given me. But I realized that love out of gratitude is not enough; I can't do that to Jason nor myself.  
  
Then there was Andrew, my shoulder to cry on. We talked every night since I left Japan, from everything about why I left to how it all began. Sure I told Jason everything, but I never told him how it all came to be, I couldn't find it in my heart to tell him the truth. Andrew knew me since childhood, so I was sure he wouldn't be ashamed of me. I hate to admit it, but I sort of still have feelings for him. I've always been ashamed of that though, considering the fact that I was dating his best friend. Poor Andrew, if he knew, he'd be so confused.  
  
Suddenly the phone rings and snaps me out of my daze, causing me to drop my glass of champagne into the tub and splash water all over myself. I laugh and grab the phone quickly before the person hung up, since it might be important. "Hello?" I answered, still laughing at my clumsiness which hasn't disappeared over the years.  
  
"It's good to hear that you're in a good mood Ms. Moon," said the voice over the phone cheerfully.  
  
"Well hello to you too Andrew!" I laughed, smiling just from hearing his voice. "What's up hun?" I asked, teasing him with the pet name. Ever since Andrew and his girlfriend had broken up, I've started using that pet name to remind him that he was on the market again and up for grabs. 'God you sound so good,' I thought to myself.  
  
"Not much sweetie, just missed hearing your voice and calling in to check up on you," answered Andrew quietly. He seemed sad? My eyebrows bunched up as I tried to make out the tone of his voice. "Sere?" he called out, scarring me as the phone slipped from my hands. "Sere?! Are you okay?!" he yelled in a concerned tone. I hurriedly picked up the phone so he wouldn't get any wild ideas and freak out.  
  
"Yes I'm fine, sorry, dropped the phone," I answered, giggling softly. "How come you sound so different today Andy?" I asked, more curious now than before.  
  
"Oh, it's nothing really. I guess it's just getting a little lonely here without you," he admitted quietly. It's been five years since I've left Japan, and he finally says that it's lonely? I shook my head and laughed at Andrew's sad excuse.  
  
"Really? So you weren't lonely all these five years?" I asked, knowing that he knew I had caught him red handed in a lie. It was funny hearing him chuckle and mumble a soft apology, truth be told. "I'm just teasing hun, but seriously, what's bugging you?" I asked in a more serious tone.  
  
"Honestly? I miss you Sere, it's been so long since I've seen you," replied Andrew quietly, as if he was embarrassed to tell me the truth. "And I'd like to visit with Keith again," he added, his voice filled with hope. Tears slid down my eyes as I listened to Andrew, it hurt me to hear him this down, because the one thing I loved most about him was his spirit.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Confused? Hope not, I was aiming for curious. Can't let you know too much, but I'm not sure who Sere should be with yet, Jason or Andrew? And who is Keith? Interesting twist right? Hope so.. =) 


	2. Going Home

~*AN*~ wow, I actually got some reviews. *smiles* of course I am going to continue the story, I hate leaving things unfinished. Anyway, on with the story!

~*Chapter II: Going Home*~

"I miss you too Andrew," I replied inaudibly, fighting back the tears that were building up in my eyes. Right there and then I made up my mind, that I would go back to Japan. "But you know what Andrew? I have the perfect solution to your problems, I'm going to come visit for a while with Jason and Keith, how's that sound?" I said trying to sound enthusiastic to get Andrew out of his slump.

"Honestly? You're not joking, right Sere?" asked Andrew immediately as soon as the words left my mouth. He sounded so happy I couldn't bear to let him down by backing out now.

"Yes Andy, I'm 100% serious about this. I can't let you be in this state after all you've done for me dear," I admitted, trying not to sound bothered by the idea of returning to Japan and facing my fears.

"Great! I'll plan some activities for us all to do, it'll be just like old times," replied Andrew with so much excitement that it made me laugh, he sounded like a little child with candy.

"You do that, but I have to run, I'm still in the middle of my bath right now," I said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Oh! Wow, now that's an interesting place to be while on the phone with me," said Andrew, laughing nervously.

"Hey! You get those images out of your head you dirty little boy!" I yelled, blushing at the very thought of Andrew picturing me naked in a bathtub. Actually, it was kind of invigorating. I giggled at my own dirty thoughts.

"I was just kidding! Can't I guy dream?" laughed Andrew, causing me to blush even harder. "All right, I'll let you finish washing up missy, but you better remember to call me back to let me know of the details later!" he lectured, as I began to tune him out.

"Yes sir!" I teased. "Have to run, bye Andy!" I added quickly before slouching back into my now luke warm bath.

"Bye Sere," responded Andrew just before I returned the phone to its receiver. Sometime I would think I hear him say something else just as the phone hangs up, but maybe I'm just thinking way too much into the idea?

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, going back to Japan. What am I going to tell Keith? Hey, lets pick up our nice comfortable lives and go to Japan for a nice long visit! Right, like that wouldn't raise any suspicious questions from him. It's so hard trying to explain things without going into too much detail that isn't necessary for him to know about.

"Mama, I'm home!" yelled out a voice from the foyer. I could hear the sound of a bag being thrown across my hallway haphazardly as the footsteps grew closer to my bedroom. "Where are you?" I heard from just outside the doorway.

"In the shower honey, I'll be right out," I called out. You're probably wondering when the heck did she have a child right? Well, I already explained to you about Keith, I gave birth to him shortly after I entered fashion school and he's been a part of my life ever since. I'm still trying to get used to being a mother, especially to an unbelievably smart little boy like Keith. It's hard to keep up with him at times.

"What are you doing that's taking so long? Jason called and said you were sick so I hurried home from Chases house to see if you're okay," said Keith, slowly pushing the bathroom door open as he inched in with his tiny little hands covering his eyes. "I hope you're covered Mama, because that would be really disgusting!" he joked, moving his finger over to peek and see where I was.

"You know, for a genius that knows so much, you sure are immature at times!" I chided, laughing as a grabbed a towel and wrapped it around myself before getting out of the tub. "Did you get home okay?" I asked, reaching for my robe before sitting down at my vanity to dry my hair.

"Yes, I had my scooter so it didn't take long. Besides, I'm a big boy now; I can take care of myself!" he argued trying to sound like one of the older kids at his school.

"That's good, I'm glad you're being more responsible baby. Now I know I can trust you to do things without having to worry over you," I replied, pulling him into a tight hug and placing a kiss on his sandy blonde tresses. "So how was school today?" I asked, getting up to prepare dinner.

"It was great; I started reading this really neat book today. Miss Mitchell told me that it's a fourth grade book!" said Keith happily as he skipped along behind me towards the kitchen. "I think that's so cool Mama, don't you?" he asked, smiling so big that his dimples were starting to show.

"Yes, I think it's wicked cool baby!" I replied, trying to sound half as bubbly as he did. We both laughed at my sorry attempt and shrugged it off after a moment of silence. Oh, did I forget to tell you? It's impossible to believe, but my son turned out to be a genius. I found out when he was 3 years old, I thought it was a little odd that he was learning everything so quickly, so I took him to a specialist. To this very day, I still don't know how it's possible, being that I did really poorly in grade school. I wonder what his father would think if he knew?

"Mama?" called out Keith, waving his hand in front of my face trying to snap me out of my daze. "You were doing it again," he whispered, trying to hide his big grin.

"Sorry sweetie, I just have a lot on my mind. That and I have something to tell you," I replied, smiling goofily as I finished up dinner. "It's kind of hard for me to tell you this, so be prepared to listen for a long time okay?" I warned him as we both sat down at the table and ate dinner while we talked.

Ever since Keith learned to talk and started understanding things in life, I told him the story of how I ended up in America and how he came to be. He knew he had grandparents and uncle back in Japan, but he's never seen their picture. I feel bad for not trying to contact them for his sake, but I guess he sort of understood how difficult it was for me. The one thing I never told him was who his father was. I didn't think it was a good idea to tell him yet, not until I set a few things straight in my life.

At dinner I told Keith about how I had dated a man named Darien and had loved that man with all my heart, but he broke my heart when something horrible took place. That is why I ran away from home and all my friends. Keith is still a young boy, so it's not necessary for him to know the exact details of the horrible thing Darien did to me. But to make my story clear, he cheated on me. And with one of my best friends too.

Raye, I had trusted her with my whole heart and thought that she knew how much Darien meant to me. I honestly thought that she had let go of her feelings for him, but I was wrong. She could not get over the fact that Darien was destined to be with me. So one night at a party she confessed her feelings to Darien and threw herself at him, not knowing that I had been standing nearby the entire night. Hit by the shock that my best friend would betray me like that had made me dizzy with denial; I just couldn't believe the sight before my eyes. And to make matters worse, Darien let her have his way with him and kissed her with so much passion that I never saw in him before. The entire incident hurt me so bad that I was became delirious. I trudged around the party sulking and drinking as much liquor as I could get my hands on. I needed to wash away all my heartache. Somehow I ended up getting so wasted that I woke up the next day in the arms of another man that wasn't Darien. Shocked at my behavior and the person, who I had by accident slept with, I took off running, and never looked back. "That is, until today," I finished, with a long sigh of relief; it was like a huge weight that had been lifted off my shoulder. It felt so nice to finally rid myself of that heavy burden of a secret.

"Is that what I am to you Mama?" asked Keith on the brink of tears. I looked up to see my five-year-old son racked with tears and shaking.

"No, no baby! You are not a mistake honey. I thank God everyday that he sent you into my life, you are the reason why my life changed for the better and I'm grateful for that Keith!" I answered quickly, pulling him into my lap and squeezing him tightly. "Don't you ever think that again you hear me? You are my pride and joy and mommy loves you very much, understand?" I asked him, tears beginning to stream down my cheeks as I held him in my arms.

"Yes," he whispered as his tiny hands wrapped around my neck. He reached up and wiped the tears from my face and said, "Don't cry Mama, I'm sorry." I couldn't help but laugh at my naive son; he always thinks apologizing answers every problem. If only the world worked that way.

~*AN*~

Okay, that's all for now. Are you disappointed? I hope not, because I have a lot more in store for this story. Was it unexpected that Sere would have a son? Can you think of some possibilities for being Keith's father is?


	3. Home Again

AN

Interesting reviews, which by the way encourages me to write even more! Why does everyone think the father might be Andrew? Serena has blonde hair, so it's only natural that her kid would right? smiles guess you'll have to wait and see!

Chapter III: Home Again

"Mama?" called Keith, breaking the silence. He looked up with his beautiful hazel green eyes and cocked his head to the side before grinning. "What else did you want to tell me?" he asked curiously.

"Why is it that you always know that there is still something else on my mind?" I replied, laughing at his grin, which had broken into a wide smile as he shrugged. "And yes baby, there is something else. We're going to be visiting Japan for a while, so you can meet your grandparents and uncle," I added, pulling back to see his reaction to my news. Suddenly he leapt from my arms and started running around screaming, with joy or horror I did not know, which was a little unnerving for my part. "Does this mean you're happy or mad at me for not discussing this with you first?" I asked, looking at him curiously, trying to make out his facial expressions.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you Mama!" he screamed, lunging at me and placing tiny butterfly kisses all over my cheeks. We both fell to the ground in a fit of laughter as I held him close to me. "I'm so excited!" he whispered, wiggling around my arms with fervor.

"Good, because I'm really doing this for you and I want you to be happy with this," I told him quietly as we lay there on the living room floor. "And guess what?" I asked, but before he could open his mouth I quickly answered my own question. "Jason will be coming with us, just until I get settled in, then he's going home for work," I said quickly.

"Does Andrew know we're coming to visit? Can we surprise him?!" Keith asked me, full of anticipation as he jumped on top of me.

"He already knows sweetie," I broke the news to him and watched his face go from super excited to a slump. "But I know what we can do to surprise him though!" I suggested, trying to get his spirits up again.

"We can still surprise Andrew? Yes!" he screamed, once again jumping up and down. "So, what's the plan Mama?" he asked, getting into the whole combat idea of ambushing Andrew with a surprise.

"We'll just not tell him when we're arriving and then pop into his work place unexpectedly," I said to Keith, watching his eyes twinkle playfully.

Ever since Keith was born, Andrew had grown a liking to him and vice versa, so it was no surprise to me that Keith would be thrilled with the idea of visiting Andrew. It has after all, been over a year since they had last seen one another. I remember one time, Keith told me that it would be really awesome if Andrew was his father, and that took my breath away. I had never actually thought of how Keith would react to not having a father around in his life. I felt so horrible that my little baby had to go on without his father around, but I thought I had tried with all of my being to make up for that by being the best mother him. I know one day soon the truth has to come out, to both father and son, but I'm just not ready for that day yet.

"Cool! So I can pretend to ignore him for a few days before we go so he can be even more happy to see us," Keith started strategizing for the surprise as he left for his room. With a shake of my head, I headed for my own room and telephoned Jason to let him know the plans.

"Hello, Jason Payne speaking," answered Jason in his business voice. I smiled at the thought of him busy at work; he was such a workaholic sometimes that it wasn't even funny.

"You know, I never get tired of hearing your hello, it's so serious that it's scary!" I laughed, hearing all his paperwork fall to the floor. I guess he wasn't expecting to hear back from me so soon.

"Shouldn't you be in bed getting some rest Sere?" was the first thing to come out from his mouth.

"What, no hello? Not even a simple I'm happy to hear from you?" I asked, shocked that he was being so fatherly. It just sounded so unusual from him, that it worried me.

"I'm sorry, I just don't want you getting sick, you know how I worry when you are," he apologized quietly. I heard him rummage through some paperwork and what I suppose was his secretary exiting his office.

"I know, and trust me I intend on getting that rest Mr. Payne," I told him, trying to get him to relax a little. "On the other hand, I called to tell you that I decided to take your advice after all. So pack up, you're leaving with us in a few days," my voice seemed to pick up a notch as I started to sound happier about the return home.

"Are you serious? That's great, I'll have the tickets ordered and tell the boss of the updates

and we can be off!" replied Jason all wound up about my news.

"No, that is for me to handle this time. Your job is to just accompany me, nothing more," I told him in a strict tone of voice. "For once, let me do something on my own. I need to do this," I whispered to him, hoping he understood how I felt.

"Okay, I get your point. You are a grown woman and you can take care of some small business," he replied, sounding almost disappointed that he wasn't getting to take care of things for me like he always did.

"Anyway, Keith wants to surprise Andrew, so try not to spill anything about when we're leaving okay? Andrew will be expecting us, he just doesn't know when," I added, making sure Keith's plans wouldn't be spoiled.

"That'll shock Andrew's pants off for sure," laughed Jason as I joined him. "Andrew's perfect little angel is actually a trickster, wait until he finds out," he said, getting back to work again. "Anyway, glad you called to let me know, but I have some deadlines to meet. So I'll stop by to check up on you two later okay?" he asked, while typing vigorously away at his computer.

"Not it's okay sweetie, you take care of work and go straight home to bed. Keith and I will come by to see you in the morning okay?" I told him, feigning a yawn so that Jason would get the hint that I was tired.

"All right then, see you tomorrow and good night. Bye," he replied silently.

"Night Mr. Payne," was my reply just as we both hung up on one another. "Okay Keith, time for bed," I called out from my bedroom, listening to see if he was still playing in his room. Sliding on my slippers, I trudged over to Keith's room and peeked in to check up on him. To my surprise, he was already sound asleep, so I turned off his lights and tucked him in before leaving. "Sweet dreams baby," I whispered as I placed in kiss on his forehead. When I pulled away, I saw that he was holding onto a picture frame. Carefully, I tugged the picture out of his arms and saw that it was a photo taken the last time Andrew had come to visit us. 'Such a nice little family' I remember a passerby saying to us as we huddled together for the photograph. Putting the picture frame back onto his nightstand, I headed back towards my bedroom to get some rest as well.

Next Morning

"Wake up sweetie, time to get up so we can plan for our trip," I whispered, trying to get my son out of bed. It was a chilly morning, so I knew he'd try to stay in bed as long as he could to keep warm. After a few moments, I said, "Okay, if you don't want to visit Andrew anymore, then you can stay in bed." Walking to the door, I stopped to give him five seconds to react to my news.

"I'm up!" he yelled, running for the restroom and brushing his teeth like a madman. I laughed as I saw him running about while getting dressed. My tactic was lame, but it always works with my son.

"Ready?" I called out, looking down to see him tie his shoes and stand up next to me. He grabbed onto my free hand and smiled at me.

"Now I'm ready!" he answered, sticking his tongue out at me and making a silly face as we left our apartment. We hopped into my brand new red convertible Audi TT and took off for Jason's estate. On the drive over, we planned everything so that it would be perfect we\hen we got to Andrew's place. I pulled into the driveway and before I could even turn the engine off, Keith took off running for the front door. "He Jason!" he yelled as the door swung open and Jason swooped down to grab him.

"Good morning sport!" replied Jason, laughing as they both headed out to help me with my bags. "Morning Sere, hope you're feeling better today," he said to me as he gave me a hand with the bags.

"Good morning Jason," I replied, pecking him on the cheek gently before handing him my briefcase. We went into his office as Keith played outside in the living room. "So, I made a few calls this morning, and it looks like we're leaving in the morning," I told him quietly. "Is that enough time for you to get ready? I mean, I can push back the flight if you'd like," I started to ramble, nervous that he might have a problem with my arrangements.

"No, everything is fine. I can have all my paperwork faxed or e-mail to me, so don't worry Sere," he replied, trying to calm me down. We sat down and started talking about where we'd stay and how I would explain things to my family. "Don't worry, I'll watch Keith while you get things situated with the family, then you can come get him if they're willing to meet him," said Jason.

"I don't know, I'm so scared, and what if I run into them again?" I said starting to think of how awkward things would be if we had a run in. What would I say, what would I do? "I just don't think I could handle dealing with them and my family at the same time," I muttered, tears forming in my eyes.

"We'll steer clear of where they hang out for a while until things with your family is settled okay? Then you can decide if you want to deal with them or not afterwards," suggested Jason, reaching over for some tissues. After things were planned, I told Jason we'd meet him at the airport early the next morning and left with Keith to head home to pack our things for the trip.

On Board

"So are you looking forward to meeting your grandparents, Keith?" asked Jason, smiling at Keith, squirming around in his seat. I reached over and tugged at his seatbelt to make sure it was on correctly and tight.

"This isn't like one of mommy's normal business trips honey, you're going to be stuck here for quite some time," I told him, reaching into my bag and pulling out on of his many books. "Why don't you keep yourself busy until you're tired, or watch some movies like everyone else," I suggested while I started working on some of my designs again.

"The line sounds quite interesting, I'm shocked you decided to go for the winter gowns this year," whispered Jason, peeping over my shoulders to glance into my drawing portfolio.

"I was getting bored with doing regular outfits and I had this really neat dream about this ball, so I thought I'd give it a try and see where it would take me," I answered continuing with the current gown I'd been working on for the past week now.

"So, when do you expect it to come out?" he asked, trying to make small talk from what I was picking up from his tone of voice.

"Don't worry, I'm not thinking about them if that's what you're thinking," I replied quietly. "This line is far too important for me to be distracted," I admitted, finishing up the last touches to the main gown of my line of gowns. It was a white evening gown made of pure silk with a lace trimming around the gown edge, instead of the customary top design I chose to go with the tube design with tiny beads of pearls and quarter carat diamonds sewn into the top of the gown.

24 Hours Later

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just landed in Japan at Tokyo's International Airport," announced one of the flight attendants, just as I woke up from my long sleep. I looked over to see Keith smiling and kicking his feet, waiting anxiously to get off the airplane.

"Did you sleep okay?" asked Jason, smiling as he handed me my coat from the seat beside us.

"Yeah, how long ago did we land?" I asked, still a little groggy. I heard everyone start to move and was going to get up myself too until I heard something.

"If you would just give us a few moments to get situated at the gate before you unbuckle your seatbelts, we'll get you off the plan as fast as we can," said the attendant.

"Tired baby?" I asked, reaching down for my purse to check my make-up. I probably looked like a train wreck, but I'd still like to look nice once I got off the plane.

"So when do we get to surprise Andrew?" asked Keith, sounding as if he were high on sugar. Sometimes I wonder if he took too much after me, but then again, it's possible that he took after his father also. You never know when it comes to him.

"Later, after we get to the hotel and shower so we don't stink!" I teased, pretending to hold my nose as I pecked him on the cheek. Once the plane pulled into the gate, we headed for baggage

claim to get our suitcases.

I had booked two suites at the Hilton in Tokyo, a business suite for Jason, and a family suite for Keith and myself. Once we were shown to our rooms, I told Jason to hurry and shower so we could grab a bite to eat before heading over to Andrew's office. Keith hurled himself into the Jacuzzi and drew himself a bubble bath while I washed myself off in the private shower. Once finished, I dressed him in a pair of khakis and a dark red polo shirt with some dress shoes and shoved him to his room with a Game Boy Advance SP so he could busy himself while I got dressed. I picked out a nice sky blue sundress made of sheer lace and satin, which I had designed myself last month. I slipped into a pair of tan open toe Nine West strapped heels and grabbed my matching Gucci handbag.

"Okay honey, lets go meet Jason downstairs in the lobby," I called out to Keith at the door. He ran up to me in his cute little outfit and grabbed my hand before we headed down to the lobby together. When the elevator door chimed and opened, we stepped out and looked around for Jason. I turned around as I heard someone clear their throat to see Jason standing their in a black Armani business suit, looking more handsome than I've ever seen him before. "My, aren't you looking dashing today," I complimented, smiling as he came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I should say the same to you my lady. You look exquisite," he whispered, grabbing onto Keith's other vacant hand and ushering us both towards the car outside waiting for us. Once outdoors, I noticed that it was a black Mercedes s500, just like Jason's car back home, except his was silver.

"When did you get this?" I asked, curious because I thought I had made all the arrangements. Where on earth was the Lexus GS I called in for? It's ridiculous the way he always has to have his things everywhere he goes sometimes! "Did you call ahead and have my order switched?" I asked him, eying him up and down.

"Yes, I just thought it would be nice if I got a car I would be more comfortable in. You know, since I'll have to kill time while you're busy, might as well feel at home while I tour the city," he admitted, backing away before I could swat him with my purse.

"You always have to look good no matter where you go don't you?" I asked, getting into the passenger seat after buckling Keith into his child seat. "Okay Mr. Big Shot, so do you know where we are going?" I asked, trying to make him feel bad. This was supposed to be my vacation, so I was supposed to be making all the decisions on this trip.

"You know, I didn't really think about that. I guess you'll have to drive then," he replied, chuckling as he got out and opened the door for me. "Sorry, I'm still trying to get the hang of this," he added, running his hand through his hair as I got into the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Just shut up and get into the car already!" I yelled, switching gear into drive and taking off just as he jumped into the car. We pulled into Andrew's building about twenty minutes later with a very shocked Jason, looking rather sick to the stomach I might add. "Sorry, I forgot you've never been in the passenger seat while I was the driver have you?" I asked, pretending that I didn't know. Keith and I burst into a fit of laughter as we both helped Jason out of the car and headed up towards Andrew's office.

"Hi, welcome to the offices of Forbes & Associates!" said a secretary as soon as we stepped into Andrew's office suite. "Do you have an appointment with us today?" she asked courteously.

"Actually, no, but I'm an old friend of Mr. Forbes and we're trying to surprise him with a visit today. He's not busy is he?" I asked, hoping that Andrew was in and not with a client at the moment.

"Actually, he just got out of a meeting," said a voice from behind me. 'Drat!' I cringed inwardly.

"Sorry baby, looks like we got caught red handed," I leaned over, whispering into Keith's ears as he muffled a laugh. We all turned around to see Andrew standing there dressed in a dark gray suit and pair of glasses adorning his eyes. "Surprise?" I said, giving him a hug.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you were arriving today!" scolded Andrew, as he wrapped his arms around me and placed a kiss on my neck, which surprised me so much that it took my breath away.

AN

Okay, I made this one a lot longer to get more to the point. Hope everyone likes.


	4. Finally Home

~*AN*~  
  
Gosh, don't my two main guys look sexy? Makes you wish they were real huh? *giggles* I'm getting so into this story that it's not even funny. Okay, on with the story!  
  
~*Chapter IV: Finally Home*~  
  
"I'm sorry Andy, it was Keith's idea. He's been wanting to surprise you even since I brought up the subject with him," I laughed, squeezing Andrew tightly, not believing that I was back home with him standing before me again.  
  
"Keith!" called out Andrew as my little boy ran towards him and hopped into his arms. "I missed you kiddo!" he joked, ruffling Keith's hair as he tickled him.  
  
"Me too! I was so happy when Mama told me we were coming to see you," admitted Keith, jumping up and down in Andrew's arms. He looked so happy that it brought a smile to my face. Tears couldn't help but form in my eyes at the sight before me. It was one of those Kodak moments, when you truly wished you had a camera to capture it.  
  
"Hello Andrew," said Jason, extending his arm towards Andrew as they both smiled and acknowledged one another. Andrew set Keith back on the floor and pulled Jason into a light hug. "Nice to see you too," he said, shocked at Andrew's reaction to seeing him. I guess he wasn't expecting Andrew to be so emotional.  
  
"It's good to see you old buddy," replied Andrew, smiling as bright as the sun outside. We all laughed at the display of emotions that were taking place. "Katherine, cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day. I need to spend time with my friends, so you can have the rest of the day off if no one else needs anything," he said in a stern voice to his secretary.  
  
"Yes sir, thank you," she replied quaintly before we all entered his office and started talking about things.  
  
"I still can't believe you didn't tell me," said Andrew, shaking a finger at me. "You promised you'd let me know as soon as you made plans too!" he added, making me feel even guiltier.  
  
"So you're not happy that she surprised you?" asked Keith, a little confused. He thought Andrew would be overwhelmed to see us, but it looked like he was more upset than happy.  
  
"No, I am extremely happy to see you all here. It's just a grown up thing son, you'll understand when you're older. I expected your mother to keep her word with me, even though it wasn't a bad idea, it was still wrong of her," chided Andrew, coming over and poking his finger into my side to tease me. "So where are you staying?" he asked, curious as to what all we had been planning behind his back.  
  
"At the Hilton," chimed in Keith, before anyone could even answer. We all looked at him, wondering why he was so energetic, it was starting to worry me.  
  
"Did you happen to slip into that bar and have some candy while I was in the shower Keith?" I asked, putting on my strict mother routine, to try and scare him.  
  
"Maybe just once? I was really tired and I needed something to keep me awake so I could surprise Andrew with you and Jason!" argued Keith, hoping I wouldn't punish him for wanting to be in on the game. I couldn't blame him, but I wish he had chosen something better to eat instead of sweets, especially since he hasn't eaten anything yet.  
  
"It's okay sweetheart, I'm not upset with you. Just a little disappointed that you had candy, even though you know we're having dinner in a little bit," I told him, caressing his soft cheeks.  
  
"You guys haven't eaten yet?" asked Andrew, taken back that we hadn't fed his little boy. "When did you guys get off the plane? I hope not too long ago, because I'd feel really bad for Keith," he said, going over to his bar and grabbing some cookies out for Keith to snack on while we finished our conversation.  
  
"For your information Mr. Forbes, we were just heading out to dinner, but we wanted to come get you before we did!" I argued, yanking the bag of cookies from my son's hands before he could devour all of its contents. "You can have one," I told him, handing the bag back to Andrew and shaking my head at him. "Cookies? Like that is real healthy," I lectured him.  
  
"Really? Wow, I'm sorry then, lets get a move on then. We have a hungry child here!" laughed Andrew, ushering everyone out of his office towards the garage. We got into our car and Andrew into his BMW Landshark, heading to an old favorite place of mine, The Crystal Delicatessen, it was a place that my family and I had frequented for special occasions.  
  
~Restaurant~  
  
"Welcome, Monsieur Forbes, your usually table sir?" asked the hostess at the front door as we walked in.  
  
"Not tonight, I'd like a table for myself and three other guests," said Andrew as we waited to be seated.  
  
"Right this way please," said the hostess as she escorted us to our tables. When we got there, both Andrew and Jason reached for my seat to pull it out for me. With a quiet laugh, we all sat down and were handed out menus. "Today's specialty will be the dessert by one of our newest chefs, Lita," announced the hostess before walking away as our server walked up to us.  
  
"Hi, my name is Lily, and I'll be your waitress for the evening. What can I start you off with to drink?" asked the bubbly waitress with a big smile on her face. Still shocked by the news that Lita worked here, we all sat silently gawking at one another.  
  
"Miss?" called out the waitress as I snapped out of my state of mind and ordered a glass of white zinfandel to clear my head. Keith wanted a glass of orange juice and the guys Jack Daniels.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me Lita worked here," I whispered, clearly upset. 'What the hell was Lita doing here of all the damn places?' I thought to myself, looking all over the restaurant to make sure I hadn't been spotted yet. After a short moment of silence we all decided to order dinner and forget about the recent event of news to try and enjoy our dinner together. Just as I reached for my glass of wine, I heard her voice.  
  
"Hello! My name is Lita, I'm a new chef here. How is everything? Is it to your liking?" she asked, as a began choking violently on the huge gulp I had just taken. "Are you okay miss?" she asked, bending over to make sure I was all right. Quickly, I hunched over towards Andrew and kicked him real fast, so he could jump in and get Lita away from me.  
  
"Hi Lita! My client is doing fine, she just needs some air that's all," responded Andrew, jumping up from his seat from my kick. 'Oops,' I thought to myself, didn't know I had kicked him that hard. Before Lita could take a look at me, Lita pulled her away form our table and started whispering stuff to her as they walked back towards the ktiched doors. "Sorry, I'm trying to conduct some business over dinner and my clients asked for some privacy," I overheard Andrew lying.  
  
"Oh, well that's fine. Would they like a private room if that's the case?" I heard Lita offer. 'God, just go back into the kitchen already,' I cringed inwardly, hoping she wouldn't come near our table anymore.  
  
"No, that's fine. I think they want to keep a low profile and not get noticed by anyone," Andrew made up an excuse quickly. 'That's my Andrew, always thinking on his feet,' I laughed quietly.  
  
"I guess I'll leave you all alone then," Lita finally said, giving Andrew an odd look. I guess she noticed the beads of sweat pouring down his face while they were talking. If it's one thign Andrew is really bad at, it's lying to someone to their face. Just when I thought we were finally home safe, I see Lita turn to Andrew and ask, "Who exactly are they? Don't look very familiar."  
  
"Oh, well..." answered Andrew, looking at me for some help. I gave a quick nod and turned away, before taking another sip of wine. This was just getting too risky for me. "That's because they're from America, they just flew in to do some business with my company," said Andrew, this time sounding more smoothly than before.  
  
"I see, well good luck then. I guess I'll see you around," replied Lita, waving before heading back into the kitchen.  
  
"Finally!" I cried, letting out a deep breath that I hadn't noticed I was holding. "That was so close! I thought I was going to die!" I said, exasperated at the whole ordeal. Things were just getting a little too out of hand, next thing you know all the girls will walk in or maybe Darien with heck knows who! 'Wait a minute, why do I care what Darien does anymore? He means nothign to me now,' I told myself, slowly starting to doubt my own self.   
  
"Lets just finish dinner and hurry out of here before anythign else happens okay?" suggested Jason, hoping to calm my nerves down. After so many years, I guess Jason had picked up telling how I was feeling by my facial expressions. I was a horrible at pretending to be fine when I needed to keep everyone from not knowing what was goign on through my head. I foudn that if people knew, they tended to worry too much over me, and I didn't want everyoen fussing over me.  
  
"Good idea, then I can take Keith over to see my place and you can stop by your house," said Andrew, already half way through with his entree. That guy eats like a hog I swear, yet he looked skinny like a twig all the time.  
  
"You know, I wish I could eat as much as you do Andy. I hate being a woman sometimes, we have to work out just to keep a nice body, and always watch what we eat," I said, playing with my chicken scampi. I remember back then before I had Keith, I could eat a cow and not gain a pound, but it doesn't work that way anymore. After giving birth to Keith, my metabolism changed, now I have to work hard to keep my stomach flat and abs toned.  
  
"It's okay Sere, you know we don't love you because your body is sexy," replied Jason, smiling when I reached over a lightly punched him in the arm. I was started to wonder what sort of feelings I actually had between the two guys now, it's so complicated between the two relationships.  
  
"I agree, I most certainly don't go for girls who starve themselves to look pretty. I prefer a meaty girl who is confident about eating what she wants and however much," stated Andrew, winking at me. Andrew and I are the only ones who know about my eating habits back then. I never mentioned it to Jason because it wasn't necessary to know anymore, since I ate differently when I was carrying Keith.  
  
"If you don't need anything else, I'd like to thank you all for joining us at The Crystal Delicatessen tonight and hope you come back to see us soon," said the waitress just as we all finished our dinner. As we sat there conversating, she came back with our bill and before the guys could think of reaching for the bill, I did.  
  
"Sorry guys, too fast for you," I teased, looking over the bill qucikly before tossing in a twenty for tip and sixty dollars for dinner. "Okay gentlemen, lets book it," I said, grabbing my handbag as the gusy and I headed out to our cars with Keith in tow.  
  
"So we'll meet you later at Andrew's when youre finished talking to them?" said Jason, putting Keith into Andrew's backseat and buckling him up. Before he could close the door, I ran over and gave Keitha huge kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Yeah, wish me luck!" I said, hopping into the s500 and taking off towards some vaguely familiar streets on the other side of Tokyo. After about twenty minutes of cruising the streets, I turned into a dimly lit road and pulled into a dark driveway. 'Okay, so here goes nothing,' I thought to myself, slipping into a light jacket and heading for the front door. Before I could ring the doorbell, the front door swung open to reveal none other than my younger brother Sammy and a young girl in his arms. "Um, hi..." I muttered, suddenly lost for words. "I mean, hello Sammy," I corrected myself, feeling wuite ridiculous. This was my little brother for christ sake! I could even bring myself up to say anythign besides hello to him.  
  
"I'm sorry, but do I know you miss?" asked Sammy, looking at me oddly. 'Have I changed that much over the years?' I asked myself, wondering how different I looked compared to back then.  
  
"Actually, you do Sammy," I answered, smiling as I stepped up and pulled him in for a hug. The girl in his arms glared at me, not happy with the idea that another woman was in his life I suppose. So form the looks of it, she must be his girlfriend. "It's me Sammy," I whispered, tears threatening to spill form my eyes as I pulled away to get a better look at him. "You've grown up so much since the last time I saw you," was all I could say as the tears streamed down my face.  
  
"Serena?!" cried Sammy, a look a sheer shock apparent on hsi face as he stepped away from me, not believing that I was actually home. "Am I dreaming? Is it really you big sis?" he asked, pulling at his hair, looking almost hysterical.  
  
"Sammy, what on earth is all the racket out here? I thought you were going to go out with..." said a woman's voice from the hallway, stopping midway in her sentence as she pulled the door open and saw me. "Oh god," whispered my mother, doing double take, shaking her head as if her eyes were deceiving her.  
  
"Hello mother," I said quietly, tears falling even faster from my eyes than I could wipe off. "I've missed you Mama," I added, running over to embrace the mother that I haven't seen in over five years.  
  
"Oh my god, my little baby girl is back! She's really home, oh thank heaven!" cried my mother, breaking down in tears as she squeezed me tightly in her arms. We both stood there holding one another, swaying back and forth just enjoying the warm moment.  
  
"Illene, what's happeneing out there?" asked a deep voice from the living room. Sammy and mom pulled me inside quickly and slammed the door shut as they shoved me into the living room. "What the..." I heard, what sounded like my dad say. "Who is that?" he asked, looking me up and down.  
  
"Don't you recognize her?" asked my mother, laughing with so much joy as she wiped her tears off her face. I looked over and smiled, running a hand through my hair as I cocked my head to the side and laughed at my dad.  
  
"Hi Daddy," I said in a quiet soft voice. "It's been a while hasn't it?" I asked him, laughing at my own statement.  
  
"Daddy?" said my father, looking at me as if I were crazy. "Why would you call me... Oh my god, Serena is that you?!" called out my dad loudly. I nodded with tears swelling up in my eyes as he stepped over and hugged me so tight I had to take small breaths to keep from collapsing. "Good Lord, where have you been all this time?" he asked, stilling holding me as he placed a kiss on my head, restraining himself from getting emotional.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I never meant to put you through all this. Please forgive me," I apologized, crying even harder as I looked at my family.   
  
After thirty minutes of tears and apologies, we finally all calmed down so I could explain to them why I had left and let them know about Keith. At first they were a little shocked to hear that I had a son, but after some time they got used to the fact and started asking about him, curious as to what he was like. I told my parents that Keith was dying to meet them, and they ordered me to bring him home to meet them as soon as I could. So we all decided that we'd have a family reunion in two nights at our house, so everyone could sit down and talk about the past five years and spend some quality time with one another. So after all of that was taken care of, I headed over to Andrew's apartment suite, which happened to be above his office suite.  
  
~Andrew's Place~  
  
"Wow, nice pad Andy," I commented, exiting the elevator doors that led up to his private suite. I looked over to see all my guys sitting in the living room watching sports, typical guy thing they always did when they were together, it was like a traditional bonding thing for them. Smiling, I jumped on top of everyone and stretched my tired body out.  
  
"Hey to you too!" laughed Andrew, shoving me off of his face.  
  
"Did you get heavier?" cried Keith from underneath my legs. I frowned and slid off of them as they all broke out in laughter.  
  
"That was mean," I replied, pretending to look hurt.  
  
"We're kidding Sere, so how was it?" asked Jason, curious as to why I haven't said anythign sicne I arrived.  
  
"It was..." I started, trying to get them all riled up about what I had to tell them. "Well... they said... TheysaidtheywantedtomeetKeithintwonightsatafamilyreunion," I said as fast as I could, taking a big breath of air afterwards. It had been a long time since I had actually attempted to do one of my long hard ot understand continuous sentences. I lfell over holding my stomach form all the laughter as I saw the look on all their faces.  
  
"Huh?" was all Keith could say, looking at me oddly.  
  
"I think what she meant was, you're going to be attending a family reunion with her in two days Keith," whispered Andrew, shocked that he could still understand me even after all these years of not hearing me talk like that. "Wow, I still have it in me," he laughed.  
  
"Really?" asked Keith, his eyes twinkling with excitement.  
  
"Yeah baby, they're thrilled about meeting you as well!" I answered, sweeping my son up into my arms and swinging him around the room. Everything was still pretty unbelievable to me, it was just so shocking that I had actually return to Japan and saw my parents after running away so many years ago. I felt like a huge part of my odl self had returned as I giggled and messed aroudn with Keith still in my arms. It was such a nice feeling, being free of no worries and experiencing real happiness for once. The only thing left to do was to confront my demons, that is if I could find enough courage to do so.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Okay, I have to stop here. Happy Thanksgiving all!! I have to get some rest so I can cook Thanksgiving dinner for my family tomorrow. Ja Ne! 


	5. Old Friends

~*AN*~  
  
Sometimes life just isn't the way you hope it to be. But I am a writer, so the story must go on whether or not I am happy. Enjoy.  
  
~*Chapter V: Old Friends*~  
  
Facing my own fears, I wonder if I can manage to find enough courage to do so. By now, I should've learned to move on with my own life. It's just so hard when you look back and see how horribly wrong your life went when you thought things were going great. I still can't accept the fact that the love of my life turned on me with a person who I considered to be my best friend. I honestly don't know what to do anymore. Should I tell someone my problems or just push them to the back of my mind again. I couldn't sleep, so for the remainder of the evening, I sat outside on the balcony thinking about my troubles.  
  
~Andrew's Place~  
  
'I wonder how Sere will react when she runs into Darien again?' Andrew thought to himself, pacing back and forth in his bedroom. Things just couldn't get any worse for him at this particular moment in life. On one hand, he has been a friend with Darien for so many years, and on the other hand there is Sere. The woman who he has grown to love and car about so dearly, not to mention he practically grew up with her. Choosing between a friend and a possible love was just not something he saw himself doing. 'Darien did break her heart though, so I have a right to be angry with him,' he argued. 'Then again, how can I go after one of my best friend's ex girlfriends? And it's against an understood bond between friends,' he argued back. "God, I feel like I'm going insane thinking about this! What on earth was I thinking in the first place?" he yelled, pulling on a few locks on his hair.  
  
Suddenly, the phone rings, interrupting any other thoughts in his mind. "Hello?" answered Andrew tiredly.  
  
"Hey Drew, what's up? Sorry to call at such an hour, but I have a favor to ask of you," said the voice on the other end of the receiver. Just when things were driving him crazy, Darien Shields of all the people in the world had to call him.  
  
"What is it now?" asked Andrew, rolling his eyes as he sat down on his bed.  
  
"Well, I was wondering if you could meet me up at the café downtown to discuss some things," replied Darien stoically. Ever since Sere had left him all those years ago, Darien Shields had devoted himself to his work and had not kept in touch with Andrew much. Only on those occasions when he would obsess about getting Sere back would he call him up.  
  
'Oh lord, what now?' muttered Andrew inwardly. "I'm a little busy this week, can't it wait?" answered Andrew, beginning to get annoyed with his friend.  
  
"Well, not really. But since you're busy, we can reschedule I suppose," replied Darien. "So hey, have you spoken to any of the girls lately?" he asked suddenly. Shaking his head, Andrew knew this conversation had some other point to it.  
  
"Not really, I'm not as close to them as you are remember?" retorted Andrew. Sometimes he thought Darien was mindless. "Besides, why would I keep up to date with them, the only person I ever held dear to me was her," he added, just to agitate Darien a little.  
  
"You're right, sorry I asked," said Darien, stirred up by the topic. "You wouldn't have heard from her have you?" he asked, curious as to know of how she was doing.  
  
"Even if I did, I wouldn't let the likes of you know. You truly don't get it do you Darien? You messed up, so live with it," yelled Andrew angrily, slamming the phone back onto its receiver and storming out of his room. He couldn't believe Darien would think he would ever have another chance with Sere. After all he put her through, he doesn't even think about how she feels and what it has done to her life. "If only you knew Darien. If only you knew," whispered Andrew, staring blankly out the window.  
  
~Next Day~  
  
"Mama, wake up! It's time to go see the city!" cried Keith happily as he jumped up and down on my bed. Sometimes I wondered what the boy had in his body that enabled him to get up at such ungodly hours. It never ceased to amaze me if he was up by 7am ever morning, psyched up about the day ahead of him.  
  
"Okay sweetie, give me a few minutes to wake up and we'll go," I replied, slipping into my fleece robe and heading over towards the restroom. After washing up and getting dressed, Keith and I ordered up some room service for breakfast. We finished around 8:30 and gave Jason a wake up call around the same time.  
  
"So what do I get to see first?" Keith asked me excitedly. He had this huge smile on his face and his eyes sparkled like stars on a dark night. It was so cute looking at him that I couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"We'll stop by Tokyo Towers so you can get a view of the whole city where I grew up, then we can go to the mall and do some shopping, maybe buy grandma and grandpa some presents?" I told him, seeing his smile spread even wider as he took of jumping with glee. It took Jason about half an hour to get dressed before we could head out.  
  
"You look tired Sere," whispered Jason when he saw me sitting there with an overly cheerful Keith in my laps. I nodded, knowing what he was referring to. There were bags under my eyes and I was looking more pale than normal. "Something on your mind?" he asked, looking at me with concern in his eyes.  
  
"No, just a little worn out. Must be the jet lag and readjusting to the time changes," I lied, knowing that he wouldn't buy my excuse but would accept it for now. We visited all the places I had told Keith we would see and then went to the mall to get gifts for my family. He decided to buy a big picture frame, so that we could all take a picture together and place it on my parent's mantel next to one of our old family portraits. That was he would have something to take home with him as a reminder of his family. I thought it was a sweet idea and urged him to buy some other gifts for everyone as well.  
  
After we decided that we had bought more than enough gifts, I dropped Keith off at my parents' house so he could spend some alone time to get to know them better and headed out to the park with Jason. I wanted him to see the place I always came to when I had things on my mind. It was something I thought he would like to see, since it was a remarkable place with great scenery surrounding it. We talked over a few things dealing with the company back home before I decided to let Jason know about my entire past.  
  
"So all this time I had thought that Keith was the son of the person you used to love, but he really isn't?" asked Jason still a little confused. I suppose he really didn't think I was that type of person, but after I explained to him the situation, he understood everything. "Do you at least know who the father is?" he asked, concerned that Keith might have to live a life without knowing his father. Jason had took the place of Keith's missing father ever since I had brought him into the world, so it was only natural that Jason be concerned for Keith's future.  
  
"Yes, I do actually. I'm just not ready to let him know thought, it would be so awkward, since I still have so much unsettled business," I answered, smiling sadly.  
  
"So why don't you try to get in contact with those people and get everything over with so you can let Keith see his father for the first time, I know it would mean the world to him," replied Jason, gripping onto my hands tightly. "You know I will support you no matter what the outcome will be," he added, hoping I understood what he was trying to do.  
  
"I know, I plan on doing that soon," I told him, looking out at the lake as the sun was starting to set. "You know, this very bench was the one Darien and I used to spend so much time at," I said absentmindedly. "It stills looks the same, everything was just the way I left it," I whispered, looking all around at the park.  
  
"Let's go, I think you need to get some rest. It's getting cold out anyway," said Jason, heading back toward the car before me so I could have some quiet time to myself.  
  
After we got into the car, I gave my mom a call and asked her if Keith could spend the night. When she heard the news, she was delighted and instantly agreed to my idea. Jason and I headed back to the hotel afterwards.  
  
"I think I'm going to go for a drive," I said just as we both got out of the car. Jason turned and looked at me worriedly. "Don't worry, I just wanted to stop by an old friend's house for a little," I told him, taking the keys from his hands and getting back into the car. "You should get some rest, I heard you have a lot of paperwork that is going to be sent over tomorrow morning," I suggested, laughing when I saw the look on his face.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asked, shocked that his work had been piling up this entire time. I shrugged, hoping he'd forgive me for delaying his messages. I took the liberty of giving him some time to relax, since he never gets a vacation, I thought he should actually rest on his first time away from work.  
  
"Thank me later dork," I laughed. "Better get a move on," I said before starting the engine and taking off. Looking back through the rear view mirror, I could see him still standing there as I drove away. 'Sometimes he was just a little too much for me to handle,' I thought, shaking my head with a smile. "I guess it's time to give Miss Mina a visit," I said to myself, taking a deep breath as I headed over to her house.  
  
After all these years, I had realized that I had hurt a lot of my friends, the ones who would never think of hurting me in the first place. I felt so bad, I wasn't sure if asking them for forgiveness was the right thing to do anymore. After all, I had abandoned them, why should I deserve to be forgiven right? Yet I feel that I at least owe them a visit, after all they've done for me. So, swallowing my own pride, I decided to visit my three closest friends. Amy Mitchell, Mina Ashton, and Lita Kingsley; I had met them my first year in middle school, and we had quickly become friends.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Sorry it's so short, but that's all I'm capable of doing in this state of mind. 


	6. Revisiting Memories

~*AN*~  
  
Not to sound ungrateful for all the reviews, but why is it that some people don't know how to ask nicely? Add another chapter? What do you take me for? A servant? Sorry, but I don't appreciate that. I'm not one to throw out names, but I'm sure they know whom I'm referring to. And to all those who posted such encouraging reviews, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  
  
~*Chapter VI: Revisiting Memories*~  
  
As I pulled into the driveway of my old friend's house, I looked around and remembered all the wonderful memories we had at this very house. All the slumber parties we had in this house, and how Mina's mom would treat me like her daughter since Mina and I looked exactly alike one another. Taking a deep breath, I turned off the engine and took a quick look in the mirror before walking up to the front door. 'I can do this, it's just like meeting the faces of my clients for the first time,' I told myself, reaching up and ringing the doorbell.  
  
"I got it!" I heard a woman's voice call out from the inside. I took a step back as I heard footsteps come closer to the door. When the door opened, what I saw shocked me beyond belief. There was Mina standing before me, looking so much older than the last time I saw her. "Hello, can I help you miss?" she asked, smiling at me gently.  
  
"Hey Mina," I managed to say with a gulp. "It's me, Sere. I mean, Serena" I quickly corrected myself, feeling very stupid. 'Yeah, like she would know me by my new name,' I said, mentally slapping myself.  
  
"Serena?" I heard her say, staring at me closely. "Oh my god..." was her reply as she took a step back with a look of sheer horror in her face. "Please tell me this isn't some sick joke," she cried, tears pouring down her face.  
  
"No, no Mina! It's really me," I said, running in and helping her back up. "I'm sorry, did I catch you at a bad time or something?" I asked, thinking that she was still angry.  
  
"No Serena, I just can't believe it's really you. After all these years too!" cried Mina, pulling me into a hug. "We looked everywhere for you after that night, you just disappeared," she said sadly.  
  
"It's okay Mina, I'll tell you all about it later. Is there somewhere we can go to talk? Maybe meet up the other girls?" I suggested, pulling away from her as I wiped the tears from her face. It's so hard to be strong when your friend is sitting there on the ground crying.  
  
"The girls? You mean, just like the old times. All of us back together again?" asked Mina, her eyes filled with hope.  
  
"Actually, just Amy and Lita. I only meant for the four of us to get together, you know sort of like back in junior high?" I answered quickly, seeing her eyes fall down sadly.  
  
"I see. I'll go give them a call," said Mina, walking off to telephone the others to come over. "So where have you been all these years?" she asked, coming back from the kitchen.  
  
"I've been working in New York. I'm a designer for Moonlight Fashions," I answered, beaming proudly of my accomplishments. "How about you? What's been going on with everything?" I asked, curious to know of their new lives.  
  
"I'm a interior decorator now," answered Mina, smiling at me when she saw my eyes dilate with shock.  
  
"Oh my god, I am so proud of you Mina!" I screamed excitedly. After all these years, the two girls dumbest girls of the group have made something great of their lives. Inwardly, I laughed as I recalled all those times everyone would say Mina and I were hopeless. "I guess we showed them who's dumb huh?" I said sarcastically.  
  
"Anyway, the girls are heading over. I haven't told them you're here, so that's your job to surprise them okay?" replied Mina, going back into the kitchen to grab some tea and snacks for everyone.  
  
I took a quick tour of her living room and saw all the pictures from the past up until what seemed liked this past Christmas. The pictures went from give girls down to four girls and suddenly it was only Mina and her mother. I was curious as to why there weren't as many pictures of the entire group. Did they all lose contact after all these years?  
  
"So hey, why don't you tell me how New York has been treating you?" asked Mina, setting the tea tray down beside me at the coffee table.  
  
"It's been great. A few setbacks, but I'm still hanging in there," I told her, smiling to hide the fact that the one tiny setback has changed my life in so many ways. "Anyway, what about you?" I asked, trying to get off the subject of my life. I just don't think now was the time to tell her everything. Just as she was about to say something, the doorbell rang.  
  
"I'll be right back okay, it's probably the girls," said Mina, smiling as she hurried off to get the door. I nodded and sat back gathering my own senses together to tell the girls about my new life. "Hi Amy! Hi Lita!" I overheard Mina call out as she opened the door to greet the others.  
  
"Long time no see," I heard someone say. Sounded very serious from what I could tell.  
  
"Yeah, it's been a while hasn't it?" added the other voice merrily. Now that voice I could make out. It was Lita for sure. After all these years, she was still the laid back one. She was never too serious about much.  
  
"Well, come on in. We can talk in the living room," said Mina, following the girls into the room where I was waiting for them.  
  
"Hey, I didn't know you already had a guest over," said Lita, smiling as she held out her hand towards me. "Hi, I'm Lita Kingsley," she greeted me.  
  
"I know, and you're Amy Mitchell," I replied, shaking Lita hands quickly and extending mine out to Amy, smiling as I did so. Lita and Amy took one glance and one another and then stared at me awkwardly.  
  
"Sorry, but how do you know our names?" asked Amy inquisitively as she adjusted her glasses and got a closer look at me.  
  
"That would be because I grew up with you two," I answered, smiling as the expression on their face went from confused to scared look.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I would remember your face if we had met before," said Amy in a more serious tone.  
  
"Well, let me refresh your memory them Amy. Three years in junior high, then four more years in high school, but after that I sort of just moved away without notice," I said all in the same breath.  
  
"Whoa, back up the train miss. You went to junior and high school with us?" asked Lita, becoming more and more confused by now.  
  
"Yeah, my name is..." I started but was quickly interrupted when both girls lunged at me and hugged me tightly.  
  
"Serena!" they both cried in unison as we stood there just holding one another. I threw a look at Mina asking for help, but all she did was laugh and jump into our group hug. We all stood there on the brink of tears laughing at one another.  
  
"I can't believe you are really here!" cried Amy, letting go of her death grip on me. Lita quickly let go of me as soon as I started struggling to breath. "What happened?" she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.  
  
"It's a long story actually. Didn't Raye or Darien get the chance to tell you when everyone found out I left?" I asked rhetorically.  
  
"Actually, they never spoke to one another after they heard you ran away. We all sort of slowly lost contact after the years one by one," admitted Lita, pretending to laugh.  
  
"It's not something to joke about Lita," reprimanded Amy sternly.  
  
"It's okay, I just thought they would've taken the responsibility to at least let you three know why I took off suddenly. I'm sure they know the reason why, since it has to do with them," I stated angrily.  
  
"Why don't you tell us the real story then?" asked Mina, looking at me worriedly. As soon as Amy had brought up the subject of the reason why I left, I had begun to shake and wheeze.  
  
"You remember the party after our graduation that Andrew had for all of us?" I asked them, waiting for a recollection or memories. Seeing that they recalled the night I went on with the story. The truth was, that night had went fine up until the point that I had run into Darien and Raye talking out on the balcony. I decided not to bother them since it looked like a serious conversation, so just as I had turned to leave, Raye lunged at Darien and kissed him. Shocked by the sight before me I fell backwards, but what had caused me to lose my grip was seeing Darien return the kiss.  
  
'Oh god,' I remember saying to myself as I tried to hurriedly pull myself up and get away from the scene. I ran into the restroom and cried myself away, but realized that I didn't need to put myself through such misery, so I went back out to the party and pretended to have fun. I had a few drinks and a couple of shots, and danced with a number of guys, trying to avoid contact with Darien. I remembered being really drunk and making out with some guy in the corner of the room. Things got out of hand and the next thing I know, I woke up in lying next to that guy in bed.  
  
"After that all happened, I realized how ashamed of myself I really was so I left home, looking to start over with myself. I knew I couldn't go on living my life here in Tokyo even if I hadn't slept with that guy," I finally finished my story. Sighing, I looked up to see three very sad faces. "It's not your fault, I guess Darien just wasn't happy with me," I added, laughing to let them know that I was okay with everything.  
  
"We're so sorry you had to go through all of that alone," whispered Mina, coming over to hug me. "Nobody should have to go through all of that in one night, especially you Serena. You're such a good person, I can't believe Raye would hurt you like that," she added.  
  
"That dirty bastard Darien," said Lita, popping her knuckles loudly. "I am so going to pummel him into the ground," she said with raging eyes.  
  
"No, it's okay. Leave them be, I don't need to feel guilty for anything bad happening to them," I replied, laughing at the thought of seeing Darien's ass getting kicked.  
  
"So that's why Raye looked so guilty when she heard you ran away," was all that came out of Amy's lips. "I knew she and Darien looked a little too odd when we all heard the news from your parents," she whispered.  
  
"So they've known all these years and they had no decency to tell us?!" raged Lita. I can't believe they weren't angry with me for leaving them all these years, but instead they were upset with Darien and Raye.  
  
"That is just low, even for Raye," replied Mina, disappointed at Raye's choice of behavior. She was a priestess after all, and they were supposed to be honorable and truthful. "Well, so much for her being pure!" she said and we all laughed at the statement.  
  
"Yeah, it's been different these last five years. But I've gotten over it and moved on with my life," I suddenly said, after the laughter died down. The girls looked at me, seeing tears form in my eyes again. "There was something else that I took with me that night I left home," I told them quietly. "When I got to America, I found out I was pregnant," I said, trying to hold my tears back.  
  
"It's okay Serena, we're here for you now," consoled Mina, holding me in her arms as she rocked me like a child.  
  
"He's five years old now," I said, laughing as me tears came pouring out. "And he still doesn't know who his father is!" I cried letting go of the emotions I had been holding back for all these years now. "I just don't know how to let them both know," I explained. "What if they both resent me for keeping it from them?" I asked, afraid of the reaction I might get if I really did tell them.  
  
"It'll be okay Serena, you know it's the right thing to do. They both deserve to know one another," said Amy, sympathizing with me.  
  
"Even if they were to be mad with you, your son would still love you for all you've done for him," added Lita, understanding how it would feel to be a single mother and how a child would feel in a situation like that. She loved her parents very much, and she wish she still had the chance to let them know that. They passed away in an airplane accident one day when Lita was still a child, so she had grown up in a foster home. So of course she would know how grateful the child should be to have just one parent in their lives.  
  
"Lita is right, your son will still love you no matter what," Mina agreed, rubbing my back gently. "Look at me and Amy for instance, we grew up with just our moms, and I know I could never be angry with her," she added, trying to make me feel better.  
  
"Thanks guy," I replied, gathering the strength to compose myself. "I know what you mean, it just scares me to think that I might lose both of them in my life," I admitted, horrified of going another day without Keith in my life.  
  
"So, when do we get to meet the little guy?" asked Mina bubbly.  
  
"The day after tomorrow, my parents are throwing a get together in honor of Keith, so I'm here to invite you all there to meet my son," I answered.  
  
"Keith? That's such a cute name!" cried Mina happily. "Do you have any pictures?" she asked anxiously. I pulled out my wallet and showed them the many pictures of Keith I had with me. "Oh, he's so adorable!" she said, squealing when she saw his baby pictures.  
  
"He's got green eyes, that is so sexy," laughed Lita as I swatted her arm lightly. I knew my son would be a heartbreaker when he grew up, just like his father was when we were younger.  
  
"This one is really cute! Look at him holding that big book in his lap trying to act smart," giggled Mina, showing it to Amy.  
  
"Now that is something adorable," laughed Amy. Oh if only they knew that my son actually read that book, they would fall flat on their faces.  
  
"Hmm, I don't know how to say this, but that was the first book Keith read. So we took a picture of him and the book to keep for memory sake," I told the girls, giggling as I saw the look on their faces.  
  
"Are you serious?" asked Amy, shocked at the fact that a kid of mine had turned out to be incredibly smart.  
  
"Wow, he must be one of those kids I see on the television, you know with high I.Q. and stuff," uttered Mina in shock.  
  
"Yeah, you can say that. He's in 2nd grade now," I explained to the girls. I had enrolled Keith into a private school for gifted children last year and he had advanced so quickly that the teachers decided to let him take a few exams and skip a few grades. I asked the school to keep the matter as private as possible, so that Keith could have a normal childhood.  
  
"I've got to meet him," said Amy, eyes gleaming with awe. I could tell Keith would love hanging out with her already.  
  
"You'll love him Amy, he's so much like you that it's not even funny," I stated, laughing as I noticed how close Amy was listening to me.  
  
"So that means we get to be godmothers?!" cried Mina happily.  
  
"Yes, you can be his godmothers," I said, shaking my head at Mina. The girl can be so silly at times.  
  
"I want to teach him everything he wants to know about," said Amy. I would love to see my son being taught by Amy, just the way I was back in junior high school.  
  
"So, are you going to let us know who his dad is?" asked Lita curiously.  
  
"Only if you promise to keep it a secret. I want to be the one to let them both know when the time is right," I told them.  
  
"You have our word!" cried Mina, holding up a "V" sign. We all huddled together and I whispered his name into their ears quietly.  
  
"HIM!" cried Lita, falling back into a fit of laughter.  
  
"That's a shock, now how did this happen?" asked Amy, smiling at the irony of my little demise.  
  
"I can't believe it's him!" laughed Mina. "How on earth?" she asked, holding her stomach as I helped Lita back into her seat.  
  
"Come on, don't' laugh. It's not really funny!" I cried, embarrassed that they found it so funny. I was already ashamed that it had happened, but to find that my friends thought it was hilarious was another story.  
  
"Seriously, how'd it happen?" asked Lita calming down.  
  
"I told you, I don't really remember it all. One moment I was sitting there drinking, keeping to myself. Next thing I know, there he was talking to me," I stated quietly. "Then all of a sudden, I pulled him towards me and kissed him like a mad woman, one thing led to another. And there you have it, the story of my life," I said, shaking my head as I recalled that one blissful night.  
  
The girls and I talked the night away, laughing and joking about all the things that occurred in our lives. After many hours had passed, I decided to head back to the hotel to get some rest.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Sorry to burst your bubble. You thought I was going to reveal the secret right? Nope, not going to happen. Sorry, you have to wait until the end. 


	7. The Dream

~*AN*~  
  
It's been a while hasn't it? Sorry, I've had so many problems going wrong plus final exams too! Anyway, here is the next chapter. Enjoy!  
  
~*Chapter VII: The Dream*~  
  
~Dream Sequence~  
  
"This party is great Andy, thanks for throwing it for us!" I yelled over the loud music to Andy, smiling at him as I gave him a hug.  
  
"No problem, I'm glad you girls are enjoying it!" Andrew responded after we pulled away from one another.  
  
"Anyway, I'm going to go look for Darien. He said he had a surprise for me tonight," I told Andrew, hurrying off to find out what the surprise would be. I looked all over Andrew's apartment until finally giving up, I decided to head out to the balcony to get some fresh air. All the loud music and flashing lights were giving me a headache.  
  
"Darien, I have something I've been meaning to tell you," I heard a girl say as I came closer to the balcony door. Not wanting to be noticed, I hid behind the curtains and inched over to get a look. To my astonishment, it was Raye, sitting there with Darien.  
  
"Well, make it quick okay Raye? I have to find Serena so I can give my graduation present to her," Darien replied, his hands rummaging through his pant pockets.  
  
"I... I don't really know how to say this," Raye stuttered, a blush appearing on her cheeks as she looked away from him in my direction. I took a step back so that I wouldn't be noticed and continued listening in on the conversation going on between my best friend and boyfriend.  
  
"Raye, we've been friends for so long. You can tell me anything," said Darien, patting her hand.  
  
"I think I still love you," Raye said quickly, grabbing onto Darien's hand quickly. Darien shocked by what Raye had just said, sat there staring at her, not knowing what to do or say. It was clear to Raye that he had been caught off guard with her sudden outburst. She leapt out of her seat and kissed him passionately.  
  
'No,' I screamed in my mind, placing a hand over my mouth as to not reveal myself behind the curtains as the scene before me went on. 'How could she?' I asked myself, tears forming in my eyes.  
  
"Raye," I heard Darien mumble lightly as Raye engulfed him in her embrace. I watched as slowly, my boyfriend got pulled into her kiss and began to return it with his own affection. Taking a few steps back, I tried to keep my weeps subdued and get away from the horrible sight before my eyes. Slipping on a portion of the curtains that was hanging down, I lost footing and tripped, falling to the floor in tears as the loud music overlapped my sobbing.  
  
'I need to get out of here,' I thought, pulling myself up and finding a place to hide. Alone, I sat there in one of Andrew's room, crying my heart out. I couldn't believe I had to witness that, at a party that was in honor of me for Christ sake! "How could he?" I asked myself, rocking back and forth as I hugged my knees tightly to my chest. "How could he?" I repeated, trying to hold back my cries. I sat there like that for the next 30 minutes not wanting to believe that everything had taken place. I would not believe that my loved ones would so wrongly betray me.  
  
  
  
~Andrew~  
  
Hey, have you seen Serena?" asked Andrew worriedly, as he pulled Mina and Lita over to the side.  
  
"No, isn't she with Darien?" said Mina, looking around for signs of the couple. She turned back around and simply shrugged.  
  
"That's what she told me, but I haven't seen them both since Serena told me she'd go look for Darien," replied Andrew, becoming frustrated with all the loud music booming over their important discussion.  
  
"We'll go help you look for them, surely they'd be around here somewhere," explained Lita, heading off to search for the two along with Mina. Andrew ran his hand through his hair tiredly and took off in the opposite direction.  
  
"Hey Andrew, having you seen Serena anywhere?" asked Darien, walking up to him stoically.  
  
"NO! I've been looking all over for her, she was supposed to be with you!!" he yelled angrily. 'Where the hell can she be?' wondered Andrew, he was starting to have a bad feeling about this situation now.  
  
"Why would she be with me? I've been looking for her for almost half and hour now," replied Darien, confused at why Andrew was so upset. 'Did something happen?' thought Darien curiously.  
  
"Serena told me she was going to look for you about some damn surprise thing almost 40 minutes ago, and now she's no where to be found!" yelled Andrew, stomping off, leaving Darien behind.  
  
~Serena~  
  
"What's the use," I mumbled tiredly, still sniffling a little from all the crying. "If they don't love me, then there is nothing I can do about it right?" I asked myself, feeling so pathetic. In the short while that I had been sitting here in this room, I've both cried and laughed at the circumstances of my misery. 'Maybe I've completely lost it,' I thought, laughing at myself. Taking a look around at the empty but not dull room, I decided I've had enough of this ridiculousness. Heading outside, I cleared my head and wiped away the tears. 'I'm going to forget tonight even happened, I don't need this kind of crap in my life,' I told myself, putting on a smile as I grabbed a few drinks and headed out to the dance floor.  
  
~Darien~  
  
"I wonder where Serena went?" thought Darien, looking around the crowded smoky apartment. It was dark and loud, kind of like an oxymoron of his taste. He loved his apartment being dark and silent, hence the reason why he never took Serena to many parties. In the corner, he saw couples making out and people dancing wildly on the dance floor. "God, how did Andrew manage to find so many people to invite to this party?" he mumbled, bumping into a few girls who only giggled and winked at him enticingly.  
  
As he was walking around the apartment, he started to think about the incident that had occurred earlier with Raye. Should he tell Serena or keep it hidden so that she wouldn't be hurt? Questions boggled his mind as the room got tighter and tighter. Slamming into someone hardly, Darien looked up to see the eyes of Raye. Did this girl have nothing to do but torment him? He looked around hurriedly to see if there was another way out to avoid any further contact with her that would damage his relationship with Serena any more than it might.  
  
"Darien wait!" yelled Raye, chasing after Darien as he turned around and quickly walked away from her. She ran and tried to get a hold of his hand so he wouldn't run away from her, but only caused herself to lose balance and fall directly on top of him.  
  
'Shit' thought Darien as Raye came crashing down onto him. He reached up and wrapped his arms around her to lessen the impact for her as they both hit the floor with a loud thud. On lookers within the area all stopped to see the commotion. 'Damn it, can things get any worse?' he retorted, pushing Raye over to the side and getting up quickly. As he was getting up, he saw a pair of blue crystalline eyes on him. "Serena," Darien managed to say, as he saw her down another glass of liquor and turn her face away from the scene. 'Oh god, I'm so in for it now,' thought Darien, knowing how jealous Serena got at times.  
  
~Serena~  
  
'For crying out loud! They have to rub this shit in my face now?!' I screamed, boiling with rage inside as I finished another shot. "Fuck this," I whispered, heading back over to the drink table and grabbing a few more pucker shots and quickly downing them. 'I need to avoid making any kind of contact with those two tonight, I don't need to ruin the rest of my night, let alone Andrew's party,' I told myself, trying to find a place to hide.  
  
The night slowly passed on by as I sat out there on the rooftop, drinking my problems away alone. The night was a bit chilly, but the liquor was slowly starting to warm me up so I continued drinking the rest of my bottle of vodka. Smiling, I licked my lips, savoring the raspberry flavor of the alcohol. When I finally finished the bottle, I decided to head back to the party and check up on the girls and Andrew.  
  
"Hey Amy!" I called out, a hiccup escaping from my mouth. I giggled and pretended to look shocked.  
  
"Serena Tsukino, have you been drinking?!" yelled Amy, looking at my in utter shock. She rushed to my side and pulled me over to a nearby chair. "I can't believe you Serena, you know we're not allowed to drink!" she scolded me, but not caring I only rolled my eyes.  
  
"Oh please Ames, give it a break! We've graduated, why don't you relax and have fun! Enjoy the night!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and laughed as everyone turned and raised their glasses and cheered.  
  
"I'm going to go find everyone, you stay right here!" ordered Amy, looking around crazily for my friends. With a shrug, I got up and headed out onto the dance floor. The music was pulling me into an entrance as I started dancing to the beat. Swinging my hips back and forth, feeling the bass vibrate against the dance floor and my heels. It seemed to erotic at the moment, so I grabbed a random nearby guy and started dancing wildly.  
  
~Andrew~  
  
'I hope she's okay, I can't believe I can't even find her. She stands out like a sore thumb!' Andrew cried, infuriated that he had lost Serena. The entire group had looked for her for a vigorous half and hour after realizing she had disappeared. At the moment, he was beginning to feel useless and incapable of taking care of his childhood friend. Tired, he headed back to the party and had a few drinks to clear his head. "I hope Serena went home or something," prayed Andrew just as a buzz kicked in.  
  
"Andrew, I think I heard Amy saying something about being drunk! We're going to head home and call Serena's house, hopefully she's there," yelled Lita, holding a tired Mina against her. She and Mina had already taken a few shots when they first arrived at the party and were now beginning to feel very sick.  
  
"Are you girls going to be okay?" Andrew asked, finishing his drink and walking them to the door.  
  
"Yeah, we just need some rest," admitted Mina, waving slightly to him as she headed out to the car where Amy had already started.  
  
"Okay, give me a call the minute you get a hold of Serena okay?" he said, closing the door of the car as soon and Mina had crawled into the back seat. "Drive safely Amy," he added, watching the girls as their car pulled out of parking lot.   
  
Heading back into the party, the liquor had already kicked in and he was now dizzy. Deciding that he knew Serena knew how to take care of herself and that she'd call him in the morning, Andrew decided to at least enjoy the remainder of the party and have a few drinks to ease the stressful night. Feeling buzzed, Andrew headed out to the dance floor and enjoyed the company of a few girls standing nearby. He looked around and noticed that none of his close friends were there anymore so he let himself go and got even friendlier with the girls. The night quickly ended as the liquor started to diminish, and Andrew was left in his apartment, sleeping like a baby after his night filled with drinking and dancing.  
  
~Next Morning~  
  
'Where am I?' I asked myself, trying to get up, only to fall back onto the bed. 'Bed?' I wondered, not recalling going home from Andrew's party. "Shit!" I cried, shooting up from the bed in shock, then grabbing my head in pain as my headache pounded away. 'Oh my god, where the hell am I?' I thought, looking around and noticing the same room I had stayed in last night. Getting up, I noticed that I didn't have any clothing on. 'What the hell happened last night?' I yelled at myself, quickly wrapping the sheets around my naked body as I picked up my clothes and ran for the restroom. "What did I do?" I cried, slipping into the same outfit from last night as I brushed my hair and wiped away the make-up on my face.   
  
After washing my face, I slowly crept back out to the room, feeling extremely sore for some ungodly reason. Looking over to the bed, I noticed a figure sleeping soundly. 'Who's that?' I asked myself, edging closer to the bed to get a good look. 'Oh my god! Did I sleep with him last night?!' I yelled in my head, horrified at the person lying there. Crossing my fingers, I searched the bed for any signs of anything that had taken place last night without my knowledge. To my surprise, there on the bed was a tiny blotch of what looked like it came from me. "No," were the only words that came out of my mouth as I stood there, tears pouring out of my eyes at the shock of what had happened hit me full on. I had given myself to another last night, and I didn't even know it happened! I mentally slapped myself as I ran from the room in tears, ashamed of myself. 'How could this happen to me? Why had I been so foolish as to drink and get myself into this situation?!' I cried, running all the way home in tears.   
  
"I can't take this, too much has happened all in one night. How can I ever face everyone again?" I asked myself, washing away the filth on my body. I scrubbed hard, tears streaming down my face as I stood there in the shower, trying needlessly to wash away the shame. There is only one thing left to do. I have to leave here and never return, it's the only way to forget...  
  
~End Dream Sequence~  
  
"No!" I sprang up from my bed, sweat beading down my forehead as I panted and quickly looked around. Realizing where I was, a sigh of relief escaped my lips as I noticed the time. It was barely 6:30am and I was in bed at the hotel. "Thank god," I whispered, getting up to wash my face. "I don't know why that damn dream keeps reappearing every now and then," I mumbled, it was becoming rather bothersome.  
  
"What's wrong Mama? I heard you scream," said Keith tiredly, rubbing his eyes. Wiping my face, I apologized and picked my sleepy son up and took him back to bed. "I'm not tired anymore Mama," he told me as I tried to tuck him back in.  
  
"It's only 6:30 honey, you should try to get at least another two hours of sleep," I told him, brushing his hair out of his face and kissing his forehead. "I'll wake you after you've been well rested and we can go out okay?" I promised him, trying to lull him back to sleep as I hummed his favorite song quietly. Within minutes, his eyes were closed and I could hear a slight snore coming from him. "Sweet dreams baby," I whispered, leaving his room quietly.   
  
Deciding that I couldn't sleep any more, I pulled out my portfolio and tried working on my last few designs. Not noticing the time as I worked, I finished the last of my fall gown collection. It was due in a week and I was trying to get the last details done so that I can have it faxed back to the company to have the gowns completed for this year's winter fashion show. I took one last look at the gowns and smiled proudly, this was my first line, and I was sure to show everyone the best of my capabilities.  
  
"Morning," I heard Jason call out from the door, snapping me out of my little daze. "Am I interrupting a moment Sere?" he asked, smiling as he saw me sitting there by the window with my portfolio in hand.  
  
"No, not at all!" I answered, smiling back at him. "Good morning, you're up bright and early!" I commented, setting the portfolio aside.  
  
"Just wanted to make sure you got back okay," answered Jason in a hushed tone of voice, trying not to wake Keith up. "So, did you have fun?" he asked me, looking for some sign of a change in my reactions.  
  
"Yeah, I had a blast. We talked for hours!" I told him, sounding as bubbly as Mina. I saw on of his eye brows raise in astonishment and swatted him with my newspaper. "Honestly, it's possible for me to have fun you know!" I said, pretending to be upset.  
  
"I'm very proud, you managed to let yourself have fun for once," he said, coming over to hug me. "I know it must have been hard on you," he teased me lightly.  
  
"Now why must you always give me a hard time?" I asked him, throwing my hands up and walking away. To me, it seemed as if Jason teased me a little too much, just like a certain someone used to do before he admitted he cared for me. And frankly, that just scared me to no ends. I can't go through any more reminders of my past.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Good or bad? I don't know, I hope it was good. I had originally written something else, but my computer crashed and I lost it so I had to start over from scratch. I think this one turned out a lot better! 


	8. Run Way

~*AN*~  
  
I think since school is out I'll have lots more time to write. I'm even in the mist of a second story! Hope everyone enjoys this chapter.  
  
~*Chapter VIII: Run Way*~  
  
"Enough about me," I said, wondering what he was doing up at this time anyway. After he shut up, I placed a cup of coffee in front of him. "What are you doing out of bed so early?" I questioned him, curious to know.  
  
"I thought you'd need a wake up call since you were out so late last night," he answered, silently sipping his coffee.  
  
"Sometimes you are an enigma to me Jason Payne," I told him, getting started on breakfast since it was about the time that Keith normally got up. "So what'll it be? Scrambled or sunny side up?" I asked, offering him the two options he had for eggs.  
  
"I think I'll stick with..." he began as I shut the fridge.  
  
"I want both!" answered Keith, interrupting Jason's reply as he came flying into the kitchen.  
  
"Okay, four of each, coming right up!" I said cheerfully, cracking the eggs open and frying them. I made sausages and toast along with the eggs and completed the meal off with a nice cup of orange juice.  
  
"Can I get another cup of coffee?" asked Jason, eyeing the orange juice questioningly.  
  
"Sorry, you have only one choice for beverage, and that's orange juice," I replied, grinning when his face scrunched up. Jason literally can't live without his coffee every morning, so I took it into my own concern that he would start eating healthier from now on. Sometimes that man didn't know when to stop with all those cups of java.  
  
"Party pooper," grunted Jason, finishing the rest of his breakfast and downing the orange juice. I smiled happily; I always win with him.  
  
"Wonder what's on?" I asked, turning the television set on and flipping through a few channels until I landed on a local news station.  
  
~News~  
  
"It's been notified early this morning that the fashion show in New York will be taking place within a week. Our new stations has been given the chance to get an inside look at this year's fall fashions, so tune in next Saturday evening at 8:00pm to catch a glimpse!" said a reporter eagerly, smiling as the camera faded from her back to the main news anchors.  
  
"Well, there you have it. Some American fashion shows once more that we have been privileged to get a scoop on," said the anchorwoman.  
  
"Yes, I've been told that Moonlight Fashions Incorporated has many new talents and are thrilled to finally showing them off," replied the anchorman beside her. "If you are curious as to know which designers are the hottest this year, please tune in next week," he added with a smile.   
  
"We'll be right back after a few moments," finished the anchorwoman as the channel switched to a few advertisements and previews.  
  
~Sere~  
  
"Wow, how come I wasn't told of all this?" I wondered, looking at Jason curiously. It wasn't like the company to not let me know of any sudden changes that would affect the both of us.  
  
"That's because I just got a fax early this morning. You're portfolio is due by noon today so they can finish off the rest of those gowns," replied Jason, wiping his face with a napkin. I stared at him in shock, how was I supposed to gather all my paperwork and notes by then?  
  
"That's ridiculous, I don't have enough time to let them know how I want the gowns to be made! I have to go back!" I screamed, horrified that my fall line would be ruined. "Oh my god! I'll lose my job and be humiliated!" I cried, running to my room and gathering my papers.  
  
"Calm down Sere, the company already had all your previous notes, they just need the last few designs to finish up what you started before you left," said Jason, walking into my room and helping me get my things together.  
  
"This is my first line on my own in Moonlight Fashions, I have to make it perfect!" I explained, nervous now more than ever.  
  
"Don't worry, it'll just be a preview. The boss said the real show would come to you," said Jason, taking a step back for me to take in the news.  
  
"What? Come to me? What does that mean?" questions flew out of my mouth one after another as I started to become extremely nervous.  
  
"Take a deep breath and sit down Sere," suggested Jason. I did so as I watching his every movement like a hawk. "Moonlight Fashions decided to do a show in Asia, and they chose Tokyo since it's a major spot for all broadcasts," he told me in a composed voice.  
  
"What the hell? Since when did we decide on this?!" I yelled, springing up from my seat on the bed. How the hell am I supposed to show my fall line in Tokyo after it's already been displayed in New York? The thought was entirely against the idea of surprising fashion viewers.  
  
"It's okay, they just thought that it would be more appropriate if you could be present for the unveiling of your fall line," said Jason, trying to calm my nerves down. He gently pushed me back down and shook me lightly.  
  
"God, how am I going to do this?" I asked, tears wracking my body. If I did the show, they would know I was back and it's still too soon.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll help you with as much as I can. The entire crew is flying over to get the show together for you," replied Jason in a comforting tone. I took a deep breath and looked up at him nervously.  
  
"I hope this goes well, if not, I won't be able to show my face anywhere again," I whispered, taking another glimpse at my drawings.  
  
"Mama, why are you crying?" asked Keith, standing at the doorway with a sad look in his eyes. It always makes him sad to see me in a state of distress. Trudging over slowly, he sat down on my lap and hugged me tightly.  
  
"Don't worry baby, mommy is just a little stress for time. She has to do her show here in Tokyo instead," I told my son, explaining things to him.  
  
"Shouldn't that be good? Now everyone here will know that you did better than they said you would! You can show them up!" said Keith, smiling mischievously. He was always trying to find ways to get back at all the people who hurt me back then. It was a sweet gesture, but I in no way wanted my son to grow up thinking that bragging or revenge was ever acceptable.  
  
"No sweetheart, you know that is not why I came back here. We talked about this before remember?" I reminded him, placing a kiss on his head. "Why don't you go get washed up while Jason and I finish up a few things?" I told him, gently nudging him in the direction of my restroom.  
  
"Okie dokie, have fun!" he replied, smiling as he skipped into my bathroom and turned the facet on. I smiled and turned back to Jason, who could only smile at my son's antics. He may be a smart kid, but he was still a child nonetheless, so we're not surprised that sometimes he talks the same way any other kid his age would.  
  
"So how about we get to it?" suggested Jason, pulling up his sleeves as I walked over to my desk and set down my artwork. One by one we organized my fall line by order of appearance during the show and worked on details that needed to be fixed. Keith had already long finished cleaning up and went back to his room and play while we worked. It took us two whole hours to get everything in order and make a few changes to accessories for my gowns.  
  
"There," I finished, cleaning off the sketch board and placing the drawing in with the others. I stood back and smiled at my pride and joy, this line of gowns had taken me almost a year to come up with, let alone find the courage to agree to the unveiling. I was very proud of myself for finally completing it, so with a sad smile, I turned and handed them over to Jason. "You can take them now, I've done all that I can with them. Now it's up to the critics," I said, pretending that I didn't care what others thought by shrugging it off.  
  
"You know they'll love it. So far, I've seen elegant yet intriguing ideas that no one has ever imagined before," replied Jason, taking the portfolio from my hands and setting them aside gently. He gave me a hug before grabbing the binder and heading back to his suite.  
  
"For your sake and mine, you had better be right Mr. Payne!" I yelled as he closed the door behind him with a laugh. I paced the floor for a few moments before deciding to get dressed and heading out with Keith. We had to go find something nice to wear to my fashion show since we had only brought so little clothing when we left from New York.  
  
~Darien's~  
  
'Fashion show? Hmm, sounds interesting. I suppose I'll receive note on this from the board sooner or later,' thought Darien as he turned his television set off and finished his cup of coffee.   
  
He worked all his life to become a doctor, but that was not made him the person he is today. Ever since Darien had turned 18 years old, he had inherited his birthright, which just happened to be a business corporate. He decided he would not run the company, so long as he made all the decisions. Society knew there way a young bachelor who was head of the Shield Corporation, yet none knew of the person behind the chair. In a way, Darien wanted it that way, so women he dated wouldn't become attached to his dowry. With dishes set aside, Darien headed to his office, where he found a fax waiting for him.  
  
Mr. Shields:  
  
As discussed between your lawyers and the board of directors, we  
  
urge you to attend this upcoming event. We feel that it is time that you let society know who you are and that our company is not one to be taken lightly. If it is not a problem, we suggest you not bring a date so that the news will not make a scandal out of nothing. We hope you enjoy the show along with the banquet that is thrown afterward.  
  
Signed,  
  
Chairman of Board of Directors  
  
"Now why was I not wrong about this?" Darien said, smirking as he tossed the fax into a nearby trashcan. Now he'd have to go find a new tux along with making his first appearance as president of Shield Corporation. It was truly a hassle in his opinion. Once society found out, he'd be running from reporters left and right. Not to mention the women!  
  
~Andrew's Office~  
  
"Wonder what Sere is up to right now?" thought Andrew, looking through his files halfheartedly. He found himself lacking concentration ever since she had return to Japan. She looked so lovely that first time he saw her in his office, standing there blushing from being caught. It was truly a sight he'd never forget. 'What am I thinking? She'd never understand how I feel,' he mentally told himself, snapping back to reality and going this his files more seriously this time around.  
  
"Mr. Forbes? You have a call waiting for you on line two sir," said the secretary over the intercom.  
  
"Thanks," he replied, quickly setting aside the folders and picking up the receiver to answer the call. "Hello, Andrew Forbes speaking," he said.  
  
"Hey Andy," I replied, smiling at the sound of his voice. Every time I'm on the phone with him, I can't help but smile. It's come to be a habit of mine now, and I didn't mind either.  
  
"Hey Sere, what's up?" asked Andrew, cleaning up the stacks of folders on his desk so he'd have some room for other things.  
  
"Not much, just called to let you know that I'm having a fashions how here in Tokyo," I told him calmly, like it was an everyday thing.  
  
"What? Seriously? Wow, I can't wait to see you at work!" he responded happily. Since I had left Tokyo, Andrew had always been so supportive of my decisions. One night he told me how proud he was of me for becoming a designer, and from that day on I never stopped striving to become better.  
  
"I'm excited that you're looking forward to it, but I'm so nervous at the same time!" I answered, laughing to hide my uneasiness.  
  
"It'll be great I'm sure. Anything you do will make me even more proud than I already am. You've come so far since then," Andrew started, sounding like a father speaking to his child.  
  
"I know, thanks for all the support. Wouldn't have gotten this far without you," I stated quietly. "Anyhow, did you know it was broadcast all over the news this morning?" I said in a bubbly tone, changing the subject.  
  
"No, I didn't get a chance to watch. Wow, so all of Tokyo are going to be anticipating this then, are you scared?" he asked me, knowing what I was already thinking about.  
  
"To be honest, I'm ready for what ever comes my way. I have you and so many people who love me to back me up that I shouldn't be scared," I said with so much confidence in myself. I was shocked at what came out of my lips next. "If it's bound to happen, then lets get it over with already right Andy?" I said as I got more and more into it. Andrew laughed and agreed with me, it was nice knowing I had so many people who loved me and were willing to do anything they could to protect me from getting hurt again. We talked for about half an hour over things that would be coming up.  
  
"So hey, I've got to get back to work. These files aren't going to straighten themselves out," said Andrew, trying to multitask. "How about I take you out to dinner, a nice evening just the two of us?" he suggested sincerely. I smiled and agreed, it had been a long time since the two of us had gotten the chance to spend some quality time along together. "Great! Then I'll pick you up tonight at 8pm sharp!" he replied after I answered him. We hung up after agreeing to see each other later on tonight.  
  
"Whom are you picking up tonight?" asked Darien as he walked in just when Andrew was hanging up the phone with Sere. He looked over at Andrew curiously and took a seat before a response was even made.  
  
"None of your business. Why don't you ever call before you show up unexpectedly like this Darien? I have work to do you know," stated Andrew, his mood changing quickly.  
  
"My, grumpy aren't we?" responded Darien, taken back by Andrew's gesture towards him. For the past week or so, he noticed that Andrew had gotten colder when it came to the two of them coming in contact. It made Darien think that something might just be going on that Andrew is trying to hide from him. "So, did you hear about that show?" he asked, getting to the point.  
  
"Yeah, what about it?" asked Andrew, tired of having to deal with Darien all the damn time. Every time he was in a good mood because of Sere, Darien always showed up to ruin his frame of mind.  
  
"Well, the board says I have to attend to make an official appearance so I came over here to ask if you'd like to join me," Darien told him, lighting a cigar as they spoke.  
  
"Sorry, this is a non-smoking office Darien. And no I can't go with you, I already have other plans for that evening," stated Andrew in a monotone voice, grabbing the cigar from Darien and putting it out.  
  
"What? Big Date?" asked Darien, laughing at the idea. Ever since Andrew had broken it off with his last girlfriend Rita, Darien noticed that he never took any other girl out afterward. As if he was already involved with someone else, that he never let the world know about or something. It was quite mind boggling, and Darien wanted to know who or what it was that had changed Andrew so dramatically after all these years.  
  
"I guess you could say that. I'm escorting someone to an event that same night, so I won't be able to attend with you," answered Andrew, putting away his files for the time being.  
  
"Okay, I won't push any farther. Maybe we can find some other time to hand out, it's been so long," suggested Darien, getting up from his seat in one quick movement. "Catch you later man," he said before disappearing.  
  
'Thank God! I thought I'd have to hurt him,' Andrew mentally said to himself, heaving a sigh of relief that Darien had finally left. He decides to get back to work so he could leave early to get ready for his date with Sere tonight. Working diligently away in his office, Andrew finally completed all the files that had to be worked out and left his office around 6 o'clock. He rushed home and hopped into the shower. "Maybe I should try out that new dark gray D&G suit I had ordered last month," Andrew said, talking to himself as he rummaged through his closet for an outfit to wear. After an hour of getting ready for his date, Andrew hopped in his car and headed over to the hotel to pick Sere up for dinner.  
  
~Jason's Suite~  
  
"Hey, the papers were received and the boss said that things are in progress," Jason told me as I entered his hotel room. Keith ran off with his backpack and made himself at home as I spoke with Jason. "Wow, where are you going? You look sexy," he said, causing a blush to appear on my cheeks.  
  
"Out to dinner with Andrew," I answered, smiling as I set Keith's bad down by the door. "You think you'll be okay watching him tonight?" I asked, making sure he didn't mind. I lightly brushed over my black evening gown and took a seat at the bar. It was a gown my friend Jenny had designed for me when her first line had gotten unveiled in Milan last year. I never got the chance to wear it and I finally thought now might as well be the only good time. It was long and low cut in the back, the front had an empire bust line that hugged my waist perfectly. It appeared to be a tube, but two thin straps of lace lay on my arms gently, taking place of an actual sleeve. I smiled remembering the time I first tried on the gown for Jenny's show. The train was so long I had almost tripped on stage, so she had to redesign it so that the end of the train looped through one of my middle fingers easily for walking or dancing.  
  
"Hope you have fun and enjoy your day off because tomorrow the girls are coming over and we'll be rehearsing all day," said Jason, handing me a drink as I sat there waiting for Andrew.  
  
"I know, rehearsals are killers," I mumbled, dreading the day ahead of me tomorrow morning. It would consist of twelve long hours of rehearsing, then a few hours to tailor the gowns to the girls' body sizes. I had exactly one week of work to do within two days, because the show in New York would start in five days, then the show in Tokyo would start a week after that so I'd have to give it a whole new look. Oh how I hated being a designer sometimes, you always had to out due yourself over and over. What if one day I ran out of ideas to use? I laughed, knowing that would never happen, being that I had such wild and crazy ideas at times. Suddenly I was brought back to my conversation with Jason as I heard a door open and shut.  
  
"Hey Sere, ready?" I heard Andrew call out to me. Looking up, I saw him standing there looking so handsome. Had I forgotten how gorgeous Andrew looked up until today or something, because wow, he looked so good tonight! Smiling I nodded and grabbed my black evening bag and wrapped my arm around his extended one and off we went.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Okay, that's it for now. Hope this wasn't too disappointing! 


	9. Long Hours

~*AN*~  
  
Wow, two in a row, I love this time off from school. I can write whenever I want, so I don't lose any good ideas. Hope everyone likes the way things have been going!  
  
~*Chapter IX: Long Hours*~  
  
"So where are we going?" I asked Andrew, smiling as he helped me into the passenger seat and shut the door. He hurried over to the driver side and hopped in, grinning from ear to ear. It's been a long time since I have seen Andrew this worked up about something, and I was glad that I could be a part of it.  
  
"I called in some favors and made last minute reservations at the new restaurant that overlooks Tokyo Bay," explained Andrew as he started the engine and we took off past the center of Tokyo towards its outskirts.  
  
"Wow, why so fancy?" I asked, curious to know what he was up to. In all the years that I have known Andrew, he's always been one who went way out of their way to make another happy. It was one of the many characteristics about him that I loved so much, also one of the reasons that I fell for him back then.  
  
"I just thought it was about time we had a little time to ourselves, after all, I've been waiting for this for so long now!" replied Andrew, laughing nervously. I wonder what's got him so shaken up? If I know that sneaky little mind of his, then he's got something going on, I just know it. Call it a gut instinct, but I could always tell when something was up.  
  
"I see, and why is it so important that you've gone through all of this?" I asked inquisitively. I just hated secrets, was never one to keep them or be kept from, if you ask me. But I'll let Andrew have his fun, it's not like anything he does ever surprises me anymore.  
  
"Don't worry, I know you'll love it. The scenery is exquisite there!" he explained, concentrating on the road before us. We sat in silence from then on, until we arrived at a secluded parking lot. Getting out, I noticed a long pathway that led to what looked like the restaurant. It was located on top of Tokyo Bay! "Come on, our table is waiting," said Andrew, wrapping his arm around my waist and guiding me across the small bridge, with me clinging to him for my dear life. I had always been afraid of heights, so this didn't help my fear any, being six feet above water that appeared to go deep into an abyss.  
  
"This isn't my idea of fun Andrew," I scolded him, hurrying down the pathway. With a slight chuckle, Andrew pulled me in closer and we both rushed to the restaurant.  
  
"Hello, Forbes, party of two please," whispered Andrew to the maître d' and following him as he led us to our table by the window. "So, what do you think?" asked Andrew as the maitre d' helped me into my seat and left us to ourselves.  
  
"Oh, it's divine. How'd you find out about this place?" I asked, wondering how long ago this place could have opened up, because it wasn't here when I left.  
  
"A friend of mine opened it up after we both graduated from college, I told him it would be an awesome idea to have something out on the lake, but I never imagined it would turn out like this," explained Andrew, looking around with a smile. The place looked exquisite, chandelier hanging in various spots and a nearly 360-degree view of the lake and its surroundings. Who wouldn't enjoy dinner in such a breath-taking environment?  
  
"I bet he's made lots of money from this place," I replied, placing a napkin on my lap and skimming through the drink menu. I was deciding whether or not to have any wine because that would mean I'd have to stumble across that bridge with only half a mind, which scared me just thinking about it again. "I think I'll just have a glass of chardonnay," I told the waiter that had come to take our drink orders.  
  
"Make mine a Cabernet Sauvignon," said Andrew, thanking the waiter and smiling at me. He kept staring at me the whole time that it was making me feel uneasy, did I have something on my face or something? "Don't worry, you look beautiful," he replied, laughing as I sighed in relief. I suppose it was a dead give away that he could tell I thought there was something wrong with my appearance.  
  
"Then why on earth are you looking at me so funny?" I asked, frustrated that he was making me feel so awkward.  
  
"I can't help it, you just look so radiant that it distracts a guy," admitted Andrew, reaching across the table for my hand. Blushing lightly, I gently withdrew my hand and looked the other way. Wow, who knew he could make my heart race like this?  
  
"Quit teasing, you know I look the same today as any other day," I managed to reply, controlling my blush from growing any further and smiling at him.  
  
"No, you look stunning tonight, it's like I'm seeing you for the first time again," replied Andrew shyly. I smiled thinking how cute he looked sometimes, always reminded me of the same look I saw in the eyes on my own son at times. I was truly thankful that my son took after Andrew in so many ways, his warm heart and his free spirit with such a lively attitude about everything. When I was carrying Keith, I was afraid he might turn out like me, a klutz who always cried about everything  
  
"Okay, you win. Thank you fro the compliment," I said, giving in before Andrew could start arguing with me about who was right. A moment later the waiter came by again and we both ordered dinner, so while we waited for our entrées we talked.  
  
"I thought I should let you know, Darien already knows about your show and he has intentions of showing up," said Andrew in a stern voice. I felt so horrible knowing that I had been the reason their friendship had gone down the drain. Before I started dating Darien, he and Andrew were the best of friends, now Darien doesn't even know that Andrew despises him. At times I would hate myself for causing so much trouble to all of their lives, but I knew no matter how much I tried to persuade Andrew to not hate Darien, it was no use.  
  
"No worries, I'll be okay. Jason and I already had a talk about this, I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later," I replied, taking another sip of my wine. Now was just not the time to think about Darien or anything that had even the least to do with him.  
  
"I suppose it was this morning when your show was broadcast on the news?" asked Andrew, unbuttoning his blazer and breathing a sigh of relief.  
  
"Yeah, we had to get every aspect of the show down the last detail. That way I wouldn't have a nervous breakdown at my very first fashion show, which so happened to be broadcasted on world wide television," I replied as coolly as possible. Closing my eyes, I once more went through the plans for the fashion show, step by step. No matter how hard it was going to take, I would make my first show to be perfect in every way. Not Darien or Raye will ruin this day for me, I reminded myself firmly.  
  
"Good, now all I have to do is keep that dirt bag away from you," muttered Andrew, his eyes filling with rage. It scared me knowing that my sweet Andrew held so much hatred for anyone; I never thought it could be possible.  
  
"Andrew Kenneth Forbes, why I never thought the day would come that you spoke in such a manner!" I yelled, shocked at his behavior. I turned away, ashamed that my wonderful friend had become so cold hearted over the years.  
  
"I'm so sorry Sere, it's just I get so mad when it comes to this," explained Andrew, stuttering as he tried to find ways to excuse himself for being so ungentlemanly. I knew that I had got his attention, so I went ahead and pretended to continue being mad at him. It was really cute watching him try to make it up to me. Not being able to hold it back anymore, my smile broke free from my restraint and I cracked up laughing so hard my stomach ached! "Hey!" responded Andrew, laughing as well.  
  
"Sorry, couldn't help myself. It was just too irresistible to just pass it up," I replied.  
  
"You scheming girl!" said Andrew, sitting back down with a grin. "But seriously, I am sorry for the way I've acted, in now way is it ever acceptable," he whispered in a more serious tone.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I understand what you're talking about. So I'll let it slide just this once okay?" I told him, smiling sadly, hoping he'd understand that I wish nothing more than to stop speaking of these matters. The one night that I was free of stress and worries, I wanted to be free of the problems in my past and just have fun like I used to.  
  
"Deal, lets just enjoy the night while we can then all right?" came Andrew's reply happily. Just then our dinner arrived and we sat there eating while we discussed a few matters concerning the night of the fashion show. I reminded Andrew that he'd have to dress appropriate since he would be arriving as a guest in my party. Andrew laughed at my remark and fired back asking me if I thought he dressed poorly, I could only stifle a giggle as I replied. The rest of the night, Andrew tried to pry out of me the outfit I would be wearing to my own fashion show, and that is a secret of course! After we finished eating, we had a few dances and stepped outside to enjoy the beautiful view at night. "I'm glad we could have this one night together," whispered Andrew, wrapping his arms tightly around me.  
  
"Yeah, it's lovely," I said, leaning closer into his embrace. Closing my eyes, I tried to engrave this night into my memory. For almost an hour we stood there together, not speaking or even moving an inch. I hadn't gotten a chance to enjoy the nigh sky for a long time, so I wanted to make it memorable. "Thanks Andrew, for everything you've done for me and brought to my life," I said almost inaudible.  
  
'Thanks?' wondered Andrew, confused at what he had just heard. 'What could she possibly mean? What did I bring into her life?' he thought, recalling all the events that led up to today. He couldn't recall ever giving Serena anything in the past, except that graduation party which ruined everything for her. So with a sigh, Andrew squeezed Sere and leaned his head onto hers and closed his eyes to forget all his worries and just concentrate on this moment he had with her. After a while, he took her home and made sure she got to her room before taking off.  
  
~Next Day~  
  
"Okay, once more girls, from the top!" yelled Jason, his voice booming over all the construction work in the background. I yawned tiredly, altering another gown so the models would not trip on their way down the runway. Jason had popped into my suite bright and early this morning at 5 o'clock to wake me up for the day, he had Keith sent off to my parents so that I wouldn't need to worry about finding a baby sitter while I worked. The girls had all arrived two hours after I got to the location of my fashion show, we had slowly gotten to work, trying to work out which girl would look best of which gown. I smiled when I saw the looks on the models' faces when they were presented with my gowns, somehow it made me beam with even more pride knowing that others were awed with my creations. "5... 6... 7... 8," Jason said, snapping me back to what I had been working on before I could prick myself.  
  
"Hey, how about taking it easy on them, it's almost lunch time!" I yelled over to Jason and the girls smiling brightly. I saw Jason nod his head and wave the girls off for a lunch break and walk back over to where I had been sitting.  
  
"You should really stop, I'm sure the tailors I sent for will get here eventually," Jason told me sternly. I shook my head and continued stitching the last of the gown I had been working on.  
  
After everyone had come back from their lunch break, Jason continued to work them to death making sure they got everything memorized, down to the very last step and turn. As the hours began passing by slowly, the construction crew that had been working on the stage and background finally finished around seven or so in the evening. It had been a long day so far and I thought that it was about time for us all to go home and rest up for the big day tomorrow.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Okay, that's all for now, sorry it took forever for me to post this but I was out of town and didn't have my files on hand to post them. Hope you all liked it. Merry Christmas! 


	10. Show Time

~*AN*~  
  
Sorry it's been a while since I've updated, had to take a road trip. Anyway, I hope this chapter goes well with everyone.  
  
~*Chapter X: Show Time*~  
  
"Okay girls, that's a wrap!" called out Jason from the stage. "Remember, bright and early tomorrow morning for the show, do not be late!!" he added, going backstage to take care of some technical problems. I had finally finished altering all the gowns to each and every girl's body type. It took us two whole days of practicing and stitching, but we got everything together and were eagerly anticipating the show now. I looked up just in time to catch the girls wave good bye to me as they left the building.   
  
"See you tomorrow!" I called back, still smiling no matter how tired I was. Today we changed up the theme of my show and decided to give each model individual looks instead of all being regal. Now all that was left was to work on the lighting, which would be Jason's job. "It's finally done with," I whispered, mainly to myself as I got up and stretched.  
  
"Not yet, but all that is left to do is for you to go home and relax for the big day," replied Jason, startling me back into my seat. "Sorry," he added, laughing at the glare I gave him.  
  
"That's not funny, you know I'm edgy right now!" I yelled at him. It has been a long day and I have been sitting on the same stool for over six hours straight. I rubbed my back and stood back up to finish my stretch.  
  
"You have an appointment with the masseuse at the hotel in half an hour, so if I were you, I'd get a move on," said Jason quietly as he picked up all the supplies that I had thrown about the dressing room.  
  
"No I don't," I replied, stuffing some of my personal supplies into my tote bag.  
  
"You do now, I just called it in this morning," Jason told me, pushing me towards the exit slowly. "Why don't you and Keith order up some room service and have a nice night alone to unwind," he suggested as he opened the door and led me out towards the car. "I'll take care of everything and you can come early tomorrow morning just to make sure it's the you like," he added before I could even get a word in.  
  
"Fine," I said, giving in as I hopped into the car and started the engine. "But make sure if you have any doubt about what kind of lighting effect I want, call me at once!" I told him with a stern tone in my voice. I have been worried sick about my fashion show lately, I keep thinking that something bad is going to happen or that something may go wrong during the show.  
  
"Don't worry, I will ring you if there are any problems, you have my word," Jason told me reassuringly. He smiled at me as I sighed and switched the gear in drive and took off.  
  
"See you tomorrow!" I called out loudly, taking off before he could acknowledge it and say anything in response. On my way home, I dropped by my parent's house and pick up Keith. Before we left, I told my parents to make sure they arrived early to the show tomorrow and took off towards the hotel.   
  
Just like Jason had directed, we ordered some room service and found a movie on the satellite to watch while we ate. After that, I made sure Keith washed up and then tucked him into bed before starting a nice warm bubble bath for myself. While letting my muscles relax in the warm water, I thought of how the show might turn out. At the last minute, I reached for my cell phone and gave Jason a call to switch out some ideas that had just popped into my head. I thought the lighting should be a little livelier with each gown so that it would stand out more so the viewer's could see certain aspects of my designs.  
  
After getting lectured at by Jason, I hung up and got out of the bath after rinsing my hair and got into bed. Setting my alarm for 6am, I drifted into sleep easily.  
  
~Next Morning~  
  
"Sere!!" I heard a voice yelling from the living room as I slowly got up out of bed. Grabbing my robe, I went out to see who was here so early.  
  
"What?" I bit back, a little grumpy form being awoken so unexpectedly.  
  
"Excuse me, I come to call you before you're late to your own fashion show, and you have the nerve to gripe me out?" asked Jason, standing there in his suit staring at me.  
  
"Oh my god! What time is it?" I yelled, running into my bedroom and looking at my clock. It was already 6:30 and I was supposed to arrive at the building in half an hour! I ran back out and told Jason to get Keith ready while I hurried and tried to make myself presentable for the show. I slipped into a knee length black skirt and a lavender colored top before putting on a blazer that matched the skirt. Wrapping my hair up into a bun, I slid into a pair of Charles David two-inch high heels. Grabbing my briefcase, I hurried back out to see the boys both dressed and waiting for me impatiently. "I know, I know! Sorry!" I shouted, running out the open door and heading for the elevator.  
  
"What happened?" asked Jason as he put Keith into the back seat and we both got into the car quickly and took off towards downtown where the show was being held.  
  
"I don't know, I set my alarm for 6 o'clock last night before going to bed and it never rang this morning!" I replied frantically. If I showed up late, what would the critics think? I cringed inwardly, hoping that everything would go smoothly today.  
  
"Don't worry, I called ahead and let them know to get started," said Jason, gripping my hand tightly. I tightened the grip even harder, hoping that things would be okay. When we pulled into the driveway, I bolted out of my seat and ran into the dressing area to get started on the girls and make sure everyone had the right look I was aiming for. While I was helping the make-up artist touch up the first model, I saw Keith and Jason walk up to me slowly.  
  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you two behind but I needed to make sure for myself that things were going fine without me," I replied in a quick breath as I helped another model zip up the back of her gown. "Why don't you two go out and take a seat while I work, it's going to get busy real quick back here," I told them, fixing Keith's hair and kissing him lightly.  
  
"Have fun Mama!" he replied, hugging me and returning my kiss.  
  
"Yeah, and remember to have fun, don't worry too much," Jason said, emphasizing on the 'fun' part of his sentence. I was so nervous that my eyes were jetting back and forth even as I spoke with him and Keith.  
  
"Okay, I'll see you after the show okay?" I said, ushering them out towards the seating area, which was already beginning to fill up. Outside I heard the crowds yelling as the celebrities began arriving at the front entrance. Pushing any thoughts of being scared to the back of my mind, I went back to helping the models into their gowns and making sure they had the right accessories on.  
  
~Fashion Show~  
  
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, today is the day of the fashion show which we have all been waiting for!" the announcer said, welcoming all the guests into the seating area. "Outside, we have a few important people showing up, so lets go take a look!" he said, heading over to the entrance and watching which cars pulled up.  
  
A few singers showed up and had their pictures taken, then came the designers of Moon light Fashions along with the president of the company. Finally, at the end of the arrivals, a dark tinted limo pulls up and catches all the attention for a short while.  
  
"Ah, here we have the notorious chief executive officer of Shields Corporation," the host announced as the limo door was opened. "Since hearing about his appearance at this fashion show, everyone in Tokyo has been anticipating the arrival and discovery of his identity," he said, as the crowds got quiet waiting for the person to step out. Slowly, Darien Shields stepped out of the limo and greeted everyone with his dashing smile and charm. Suddenly, women and girls started screaming as everyone started talking all at once.  
  
"Hello," said Darien courteously as a few reporters tried to get an interview. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot make any comments at the moment," he replied quickly as his bodyguard ushered him quickly into the seating area. 'This is such a nightmare,' he thought, taking a look around to see if he could recognize any of the faces surrounding him.  
  
~Andrew~  
  
'Great, Darien just arrived' thought Andrew, walking around to find Sere's parents and helping them to the private seating area designated for Moonlight Fashions.  
  
"Andrew!" called out Sere's father, Ken. "Over here!" he waved his arm in the air to get Andrew's attention. Hurrying over, Andrew guiding them along the guests who were standing about and finally got them situated beside Jason and Keith.  
  
"There you are, we thought you were lost in the crowd!" replied Jason, smiling as he greeted Mr. And Mrs. Tsukino. Keith hopped out of his seat and hugged them both excitedly. "Thanks for finding them Andrew," said Jason as he signaled for Andrew to take one of the empty seats beside Keith.  
  
"This must be Sere's seat," said Andrew, looking down at the chair with a lilac colored ribbon surrounding it. He smiled knowing that even though she knew that she would not be sitting with the entire crowd, she still insisted on having a chair especially reserved for her to let everyone know that the guest of honor's family and friend were in the same vicinity.  
  
~Show Room~  
  
The seating area was beautifully decorated, pillars were at every corner of the room and white lace had been draped from pillar to pillar, creating the feeling of being inside a tent. The ceiling had tiny little light fixtures that from under the lace resembled starlight in the dimly lit room. Sere had decided since all the main lighting would be shining on the stage, the area over the crowd should look like the night sky. The design and theme set a very romantic and dream like mood for the fashion show, which was her main goal. There was a set of stairs where the models would descend from to make their appearance at the back of the stage in front of a display that looked like a ballroom from a castle during the Victorian era of England.  
  
"Okay, if you would all please kindly find your seats, we shall begin the show," announced a woman over the speakers as the lights dimmed down and the spotlight lit up the main stage. Suddenly, some slow music was heard throughout the room and a model appeared at the top of the stairs.  
  
The line of gowns totaled up to be a set of ten gowns, each of different style and color. The first had been a slim fitting black spaghetti strapped gown with a short train that followed it, entwined with pearls on top of a layer of ice blue ribbon at the top of the bodice and at the ankle of the gown. The second gown was a pale yellow halter type, attached at the neck that showed a considerable amount in the back; the gown reached down past the ankle and was brought out by pink diamonds that surrounded its neckline and waistline with a matching lace wrap.  
  
After that came a sky blue satin two-piece gown that touched the floor, the top was a corset type bodice with yellow colored crystals sewn into the top and bottom; the skirt of the gown faded from the light sky blue to the darker sky blue gradually, strings of ribbon wrapped about the gown and held up parts of the front and the back lightly brushed the floor. Directly after that came a light pink gown that hung off the shoulder with long sleeves made of sheer lace; directly below the chest had a long ribbon at the center that reached the floor, beneath it the gown was a split that separated that gown into two layers, sheer lace on top of pure silk that reached just below the ankles.  
  
The next to appear was a forest green gown that hugged the body tightly; the chest and back were both low v-cut with ruby studs embedded into the seams. It was velvet material, short in the front followed by a lengthy train that trailed behind it when walking. Taking place of that gown was a tight fitting dark red gown that was made of satin. It was backless, but was held together by strands of ribbon. The front of the gown revealed little to the eye, the square shaped design covered the chest nicely, but looking down you could see long slits all around the gown from mid thigh down that revealed the legs every step of the way.  
  
A gown lavender in color came next, it hugged the body perfectly as was made of a thick satin that hung over the body firmly. Two straps wrapped around the shoulder with sleeves made of a lighter material. One sleeve reached down to the right hand ring finger and was attached to a beautiful sapphire ring while the other sleeve was just a strap with strands of dark blue mesh and ribbon hanging from it. Following that gown came one that was silver sheer lace atop black silk, it was sleeveless with a dipping front covered by the silver lace. The back of the gown was v-shaped and reached just the bottom of the waistline with strands of beads hanging from one side to the other. Just to the end of the gown, the skirts spread out into a bell shape almost with a layer of silver mesh underneath.  
  
Still to come, a layered gown made of thin sheer fabrics in a glowing pink and ice blue appeared on stage. The gown was held together on the left side by one strap that was knotted together by strips of the gown material. The material hung perfectly on the body and flowed down to the floor with a rather long train that was attached to the left hand middle finger so it would be lifted off the ground. Cuts of diamonds were sewn along the top of the gown, from strap on left arm side to below the right arm. Below the gown on the right hand side, tattered edges of the gown revealed the two layers to clear view. Last but not least, a maroon colored gown come out. It too was a tube design but instead of the two-piece like seen earlier it was a complete gown. Around the waistline two lines of white pearls wrapped around and met at the front. At the back of the gown there was a large bow with ruffles flowing down to the knee in white and maroon. A rim of white ribbon decorated the top and bottom of the gown with rhinestones along the hem.  
  
When all the gowns were displayed thoroughly, all the models once again came onto the stage and stood in two straight lines smiling brightly. With that said, I slowly stepped off the staircase and walked toward the center of the stage where the girls were waiting for me. I was wearing the same gown I had designed for myself to wear to this very show. It was a white evening gown made of pure silk with a lace trimming around the gown edge, instead of the customary top design I chose to go with the tube design with tiny beads of pearls and quarter carat diamonds sewn into the top of the gown. The skirt of the gown fell just above the mid calf and got longer towards the back as it ruffled behind me as I walked down the runway. I smiled proudly, making sure I didn't trip in the two-inch high heels, which I had also designed to match my gown. The crowd all stood up and were clapping loudly, which made me blush in embarrassment. I smiled and curtsied to thank them all for attending my fashion show.  
  
"There you have it ladies and gentlemen, the entire line of gowns designed by the one and only, Serena Moon!" said the announcer.  
  
'Serena?' thought Darien, reverting his attention to the stage to see the designer. 'Could it possibly be her?' he wondered, paying close attention to every woman that was on stage. Then suddenly his eyes focused in on the person in the center; there standing before her very eyes was the girl who left him all those years ago.  
  
"Thank you, I am very grateful that you all had the time to attend and hope that everyone likes the designs I have made for this years line of winter gowns," I said, smiling and grabbing hold of the girls' hands. We all took a bow and waved before walking off stage towards the back to celebrate the success of the show.  
  
~Back Stage~  
  
"We did it!" the models all called out happily as they all huddled in towards me and we all hugged one another tightly.  
  
"It was all because of you girls, thank you so much!" I replied, laughing as they popped open a bottle of champagne.  
  
"Congratulations Ms. Moon," said a voice from behind me. I turned around thinking that it was Andrew or Jason only to be met by the eyes of none other than Darien Shields.  
  
"Thank you," I replied curtly before stepping aside and walking over to my assistant and told him to look for my family at once.  
  
"What? No hello, long time no see?" he asked, grabbing hold of my arm and spinning me back around to face him.  
  
"Why, you act like you are someone important to me," I answered him, glaring back at him with fire in my eyes. 'Andrew, Jason, where are you guys when I need you most?' I thought, praying that they would show up to relieve me of having to deal with Darien any further.   
  
"Like hell I'm not, you just up and left me!" yelled Darien, pressing me against a nearby wall. I searched frantically around to see if anyone had noticed the scene Darien was causing between the two of us.  
  
"Let her go Darien!" cried Andrew, walking up to us and pulling Darien's arms away from me. I quickly got behind Andrew to get away from Darien while the two guys eyed one another.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" asked Darien, trying to walk around Andrew but was only stopped by Jason, who stood between him and myself. I looked up thankfully at him as he took my hand to reassure me that he wouldn't let Darien touch me again.  
  
"We're protecting Sere from the likes of you, that's what we're doing," replied Jason, eyes glazing over seriously.  
  
"What the hell are you two talking about? I'm not going to hurt her," laughed Darien, not understanding why the guys were so protective of me.  
  
"Right, that's what caused her to run off the first place," bit out Andrew, catching his mistake the moment it left his mouth. 'Sorry,' he mouthed to me apologetically.  
  
"What? I didn't do anything, she just ran away from me, from everyone who loved her!" argued Darien, furious that he was the only one who had no idea of what was going on.  
  
"It's okay guys. I think it's about time I let him know the truth," I managed to whisper, stepping out from behind Andrew. "I took off because of you and Raye," I told him coldly.  
  
"What about Raye and I?" he asked, confused still. I laughed, knowing he knew full well what happened that night.  
  
"Don't play dumb. I saw everything," was my reply.  
  
"Saw what? What the hell is going on here?!" he yelled angrily.  
  
"If you are going to play dumb, then so be it," I stated before continuing. "I saw Raye kiss you the night of my graduation party, and I saw how you didn't mind it either," I finished.  
  
"What? You saw that?" stuttered Darien in shock. "I... It's not what you think Serena," he began trying to make an excuse. "She kissed me, I didn't do anything!" he cried in defense, yet I could only laugh.  
  
"That's why you liked it? That's why you didn't push her away? Is that why you kissed her back with just as much passion?" I asked him accusingly. I couldn't believe the crap I was hearing. Excuses! There all lies! I turned away, hurt that he could lie to my face even now. "I have had enough of your lies. I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore. You are nothing but a faint memory of my past," I stated, turning to leave.  
  
"NO, it's not like that! Please let me explain!" pleaded Darien trying to grab me before I could walk away. Of course the guys stepped in to block his path before he could make any sudden movements.  
  
"Mama, what's going on?" asked my son as he and my parents showed up just as I was leaving. My parents looked at everyone questioning and I only shook my head to signal that everything was fine.  
  
"Mama? What the hell, you have a kid too?" called out Darien, now more at a lost for words than before when he first saw me.  
  
"Yes I do, and I'm very happy with my life now so you should just leave us all alone," I said stoically as I swooped down and picked Keith up. I could see the hurt look in his eyes as I turned to leave, but that didn't matter to me anymore. My parents and I all left the building and headed back to their house, where the girls had planned a party in honor of the fashion show. I'm not quite sure how long it was before Jason and Andrew showed up, but they didn't get to the house until a little while later than I did.  
  
~The Boys~  
  
"Why are you stopping me? I just want to talk to her," yelled Darien, pushing against both Andrew and Jason's arms. He was beginning to get sick and tired of the two men holding him back from following Serena. When on earth did she have a kid? That boy looked about four or five years old already.  
  
"Darien, you just need to leave her be. You've done enough to her as it is," replied Andrew, glaring at him angrily.  
  
"I don't know you, but I know that Sere has been deeply hurt because of your actions. So now I will ask you nicely. Can't you see that she's finally happy again? Why won't you let her live her life in peace?" said Jason, eyes softening a bit when he thought about all the pain and suffering Sere had gone through over the years.  
  
"I just want to explain that I didn't mean to hurt her and that I still do love her very much so!" argued Darien, not understanding why they were accusing him of hurting Serena when all he ever did was want to protect her.  
  
"You just don't understand do you? You and Raye both betrayed her, she can never forgive you for that," stated Andrew sternly. "After all she had to go through in one night, her life changed forever because of how hurt she was from what you two had done," he said, looking away for a short moment.  
  
"Either way, we're telling you this here and now. If you refuse to leave Sere alone, we'll be forced to take legal actions," added Jason as he looked at Andrew, hinting that it was time to get back to Serena. "Good day Mr. Shields," he bid farewell before turning to leave with Andrew following shortly behind.  
  
Darien stood there quietly, trying to understand what all had happened to Serena that she was so brokenhearted over. All that had happened was a kiss between himself and Raye. What could have brought so much hurt into her life? Then he recalled hearing Serena tell him that she saw him kiss Raye back. 'That must be it!' he thought, mentally slapping himself since he had forgotten everything after all these years. He really did betray her that night, it was him who broke her heart. 'What have I done?' he asked himself, ashamed of what took place that night. "If only I had pushed her away before anything could happen," he muttered, turning and leaving in the opposite direction as the others.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
That's all for now! Until next time, don't forget to review please! 


	11. The Truth

~*AN*~  
  
Hey everyone, I hope those last two chapters I posted made up for not updating for almost two weeks. Here is the next one, hope you like!  
  
~*Chapter XI: The Truth*~  
  
~During Argument Scene~  
  
Unbeknownst to anyone else, there standing in the corner watching everything take place was Raye. She had arrived at the fashion show just to see what all the commotion was about when she saw Darien and then later on found out that Serena was there also, so she had to find out what was going on for herself.  
  
"So it turns out that Serena has a kid? I wonder what has happened in the past five years to lead up to this?" Raye finally spoke as everyone disappeared. She turned to follow Darien but decided against it because he would only blame her for his problems. 'Darien will be mine, and now I have the upper hand, he'll surely fall for this,' schemed Raye as she left the building with a smirk on her face.  
  
~Darien~  
  
'How can she have a kid?' screamed Darien, slamming his palms into the door as he arrived at his home. "Is it mine?" he wondered, trying to remember if he and Serena had ever gone that far back then. 'It's been so long ago and we've gotten drunk so many times, how would I know if we ever slept together or not?' Darien yelled to himself mentally. He paced his apartment thinking of a way tog et Serena along to talk to him, so he could find out what has really happened all these years. Maybe there was still a chance to save their relationship, although it seemed slim to none that she would ever be with him again. He still had to try, for the sake of his own mind and his heart.  
  
~Tsukino Residence~  
  
"Congratulations!" cried everyone as I came storming through the front doors. I stopped dead in my track, not sure what to do, before taking a look around and smiling softly.  
  
"Thanks everyone, I couldn't have don't it without all of your help and support," I replied quietly as everyone started talking and celebrating. I walked about and greeted everyone before heading out the back door to get a moment to myself. Everything had happened all too suddenly, and I still didn't know how to react to anything. Tonight was supposed to be my night, but it seems like yet again Darien and Raye win.  
  
"Don't let it get to you Sere," said Jason as he came up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "We made sure to let him know that he isn't welcomed around here, so I'm sure he won't be showing his face anytime soon," he added before turning to leave.  
  
"Jason, wait," I called out just as he reached for the doorknob. "I want to thank you for everything you have done for me. I wouldn't be here tonight if it weren't for your kindness," I told him, eyes tearing up from the memories that came flooding into my head.  
  
"No problem Sere, you know me, kind as can be," he joked, smiling to liven up the mood. I shook my head as the tears continued to trail down my face, landing on the concrete one by one.  
  
"Who would have thought that the crybaby I once was could turn out the way I am now? If I hadn't been taken in by you, I think and Keith and I wouldn't be able to be here today," I whispered, looking up at sky. The stars were beginning to come out already, in just a little minute the sun would set, and so would the time of Serena Tsukino. "I want to go back to New York and get started on that new line the boss mentioned last month," I said out of no where, catching Jason off guard.  
  
"What? You don't mean it. You're going to leave your friends and family again? After you've only just reunited?" Jason replied just as fast as my statement left my lips.  
  
"I don't want to risk running into the likes of him again, not to mention that she also still lives here," I stated coldly, walking past him to go back to the party.  
  
"No, you can't keep running from your past Sere. It haunts you even now, just like it has for the last five years!" Jason yelled at me for the first time ever. All these years, he's been so kind and gentle; I didn't think I would ever see the day that he would raise his voice at me. Taken back at his outburst, but knowing that it was only out of concern, I opened the door and went inside. "Why do you keep tormenting yourself Sere? Can't you see how much it hurts me to see you do this to yourself?" whispered Jason as his tears fell silently. No one else was around to hear him, for no one would ever know how much he truly loved Serena.  
  
~Andrew~  
  
'I wonder where Jason went?' thought Andrew and he scanned the crowd in the living room in search for Jason so they could discuss what to do about Darien.  
  
"Hey Andrew!" cried Keith, jumping into Andrew's arms. "You finally got here!" he yelled, smiling widely. "Look at all these people, I'll bet Mama is really pleased to see all this," he said, pointing at the balloons and the big cake that was waiting to be cut by the guest of honor.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure she is kiddo," he replied, wondering where Serena was now that Keith had mentioned the party. He didn't see her when they had arrived, but thought she was greeting guests that had attended. "Can you tell me where your mother is?" he asked, hoping Keith could help him find her so they could talk about what had happened.  
  
"She went outside, I think she had something on her head again. You know how she gets when she has things on her mind!" replied Keith merrily as he hopped down from Andrew's arms and ran to his uncle who was calling out to him.  
  
"I swear that girl always has to think so much! If she doesn't stop one of these days, it'll give her a migraine!" said Andrew, shaking his head and he walked towards the back door only to knock into someone on the way there. "Sorry, please excuse me. I wasn't watching where I was going," he replied, looking down to see whom he had collided with.  
  
"It's okay Andy, I do it all the time remember?" laughed Sere as she reached for Andrew's hand to help pull herself up. Smiling she linked her arms with his and dragged him back out to the party. "So, lets get this party started shall we?!" crying out loudly so that the entire house could hear her. Everyone erupted in laughter and cheered in response to her as she cut the cake and popped open some champagne bottles to celebrate the success of her show.  
  
'What happened to Jason? Why isn't he here to celebrate with us?' thought Andrew, looking about the room to locate the tall American man that was supposed to stick out like a sore thumb. He left his spot beside Sere and went in search for his friend. "There you are Jason, why aren't you inside with the rest of us instead of standing out here alone?" asked Andrew curiously as he closed the door behind him and saw Jason leaning against a tree in the dark yard.  
  
"Needed some time to myself to think," replied Jason sharply.  
  
"What's up? Something bothering you?" asked Andrew, not sure why Jason was acting so serious all of a sudden.  
  
"I don't know anymore, I think I'm beginning to lose my mind old friend," answered Jason, turning and walking towards the fence.  
  
"Why would you think that?" Andrew continued to probe Jason for some information to understand how he was feeling.  
  
"Because of her... Everything I have ever done has been because of her, just to see that beautiful smile on her face, but it gets so hard now a days to see it again," Jason mumbled nonchalantly.  
  
"Her?" questioned Andrew quietly.  
  
"Sere, I've developed a sense of love for that girl for who knows how long now, and I swear she is in to kill me. I try and try my best to make her life better than what it use to be like, but she continues to burden herself with those stupid memories of her past and it kills me to see her do that to herself!" yelled Jason angrily as he punched the fence madly.  
  
"What?" Andrew said, not understanding what Jason was trying to tell him. He had known of Jason's feelings towards Sere for about two years now, but he never knew the extent of them. No wonder he was so kind to Sere all these years, the guy has is head over heels in love with her. But what is this talk about Sere hurting herself about the past?  
  
"What is so special about Darien Shields that Sere must recall those last few moments from five years ago all the damned time?!" yelled Jason to no one in particular.  
  
"Sere still thinks about this shit?" mumbled Andrew, shocked to hear that his sweet Sere had lied to him. Not long ago, she had sworn that she no longer thought about the past and that she only thought about her future now, but it was all a façade to show everyone that she was okay when inside she really wasn't. 'Oh Sere, why must you push us away when we only want to help ease the pain,' thought Andrew painfully, as he dragged Jason to a nearby chair to slap him back to his senses. "Jason, get a hold of yourself man!" yelled Andrew, slapping Jason's face a few times lightly to wake him up.  
  
"Sorry, I did not meant for that all to come out," said Jason quickly when he came back to his senses. 'Stupid, you must've made a fool of yourself,' he mentally slapped himself.  
  
"Don't worry about it. What are friends for?" replied Andrew, helping Jason back inside so that nobody would notice that the two men had gone missing from all the celebration. 'I know how you feel, I guess we both share the same burden in our hearts,' thought Andrew, placing a bright smile on his face as he and Jason headed back to the group.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
That's all for now, sorry but it seems that it'll take me some time to post again, I need some ideas to continue. Until next time, take care and Happy New Year! 


	12. Finding Out

~*AN*~  
  
Well, I'm not quite sure where I'm going with the story as of yet, but I feel the need to explore with a few other options before ending it all.  
  
~*Chapter XII: Finding Out*~  
  
"There you two are, I've been looking all over for you!" I called out as I noticed the two men enter the back door quietly. "Care for some cake?" I asked, smiling as they looked around and saw that everyone was sitting about enjoying the sweets and talking with one another.  
  
"Sure, why not spoil ourselves once in a while?" replied Jason.  
  
"Wow, I haven't had cake in who knows how long," admitted Andrew as he took a bite and savored the taste on his lips. I laughed and handed them each a glass of soda to drink afterwards. I'm not quite sure when the party started to die down, but about two hours or so afterwards, I noticed that only my closest friends were left behind.  
  
"I want to thank you all for coming tonight, it meant a lot to me," I said, smiling at everyone surrounding me. Tears brimmed the corners of my eyes as everyone laughed and came in to hug me tightly.  
  
"We're always here for you Serena," whispered Mina and the girls in unison.  
  
"Thanks," was my only reply as I returned their hug with the same amount of affection. Soon after, the girls and I got started on cleaning up so that my parents could get to bed without worrying about waking up to a dirty house. Andrew and Jason pitched in and we all finished tidying up the house in no time. Keith had already fallen asleep on the couch hours ago, so we all bid one another good night as I picked up my son and headed out to the car.  
  
"I'm surprised I wasn't invited Serena," came a voice from behind me as I set Keith into the back seat. Turning around, I was shocked to find Raye standing there with a smirk on her face. The girls were standing there at the doorway, stunned to see Raye in the middle of the sidewalk. "And I thought we were best friends too," she said, feigning a hurt look in her eyes.  
  
"Sorry, but this party was for employees and family members only," stated Andrew in a furious tone.  
  
"Then what does that make you? An employee?" retorted Raye.  
  
"He's a part of my family," I stated calmly. Jason hurried to my side as I handed him the car keys and signaled for him to take Keith back to the hotel without me. As he did what I asked of him, his eyes told me to be careful. "Don't worry, I'll be fine," I whispered to him as he got into the car and took off.  
  
"So who was the little kid and mystery man Serena? Your new lover and child?" asked Raye, laughing at her own statement.  
  
"Actually Raye, that was one of my co-workers. And yes, the child is my son," I answered, returning her own glare with my own.  
  
"So you went and got knocked up by some loser huh?" she laughed, slowly walking up to my face.  
  
"No, I gained something more wonderful than you can ever understand Raye," I replied curtly.  
  
"Whose kid is it? You've been gone five years, and that kid looks just as old. Is it Darien's? Or did you cheat on him and sleep with someone else?" she asked, rolling her eyes and turning around to take a look at the girls. "Long time no see!" said Raye sarcastically.  
  
"It's not Darien's child. And how can I cheat on someone who already cheated on me and lost my love in the first place?" I fired back angrily.  
  
"That's what you think. That stupid Darien didn't cheat on you, he's got it etched in his mind that you're the ideal woman, ha!" laughed Raye as she glared at me with fire in her eyes. "I don't see what you've got that I don't already have," she spat.  
  
"Let's see, a highly paid job, a wonderful son, friends and family who love me, oh yeah, and a life without you?" I replied, mocking her very question.  
  
"Raye, I suggest you leave before one of us does something you might not like," said Lita, clenching her fist tightly.  
  
"It would be better if you just leave before someone has to make you," Mina added as she held a steady gaze on Raye's every movement.  
  
"Whatever, you're all a bunch of fools. I am the better woman for Darien, he's just too blinded by that bimbo to notice it," yelled Raye, turning around and raising her hand to my face. I closed my eyes expecting the impact, but nothing came.  
  
"Don't you ever think of laying a finger on her again," said Andrew heatedly as he gripped Raye's wrist tightly and flung her a few steps back away from me. "Are you okay?" he asked me before looking back at Raye.  
  
"What the hell have I done to you Raye? How much more do you have to inflict upon me before you are happy?" I asked tiredly. I can't believe the girl has the nerve to try and slap me. After all the crap she has put me through, she makes it seem as if I live to cause her life more misery when it was the other way around!  
  
"I'll be happy when that damned fool sees the person you really are!" answered Raye, getting up and storming off angrily.  
  
"Damn you Raye, damn you to hell!" called out Lita as she and the girls ran to me as I slowly fell to my knees in tears. How can she hate me so much after all we've been through as friends? What have I ever done but try to protect and love her like a friend should do. It was moments like these that made me regret coming back to Japan in the first place all it ever held was pain and misery.  
  
"Forget about it, I'm tired of this," I stated, walking off before anyone could say another word. After that little incident my mind was made up, I would call and have everything arranged in the morning. In a few days, I'll leave with Keith to go back to our lives in New York. Good-bye Serena Tsukino and all the memories that were a part of her life, Sere Moon was here to stay, for good this time around.  
  
~Next Day~  
  
"I have to talk some sense in Serena, she has to listen to me!" muttered Darien as he paced his apartment while getting dressed. He'd been up all night thinking of ways to convince Serena that he still loved her with all of his heart and that he had never cheated on her. 'I lost her once, I'm not losing her again,' he told himself repeatedly as he left his apartment and headed for Andrew's building. "I know you're in the Andrew, open up!" he yelled, banging on Andrew's front door like a wild man.  
  
"What the hell do you want? Do you know what time it is?!" yelled Andrew, flinging the door open angrily.  
  
"Where is Serena? I need to talk to him," said Darien as he shoved Andrew aside and stormed into Andrew's home.  
  
"She's not here you moron!" replied Andrew, frowning at how ignorant the executive of Shields Corp. could be at times.  
  
"Well then where the hell is she?!" asked Darien angrily.  
  
"At her hotel, where else?" replied Andrew, rolling his eyes and taking a seat at his kitchen counter. "Look, I don't have all day here, when are you going to leave me to my own business?" he asked, tired of beating around the bushes with Darien's nuisances.  
  
"Then tell me where I can find her," answered Darien.  
  
"There is no way in hell that she'll see you and I won't let you," was Andrew's response. Frustrated of getting no where, Darien got up and took off in search of Serena on his own, he'd be damned if he'd let her leave him again this time.  
  
~Hotel Suite~  
  
"Mama, why are we packing already? I thought we were going to stay a little longer," asked Keith, frowning as he watched me put all of his things back into his suitcase. I felt ashamed that I had to cut my vacation short, but I couldn't stand being back in a place full of painful memories that kept resurfacing every time I turned a corner. It was just too much for me to handle, and I didn't want to drag my son in the equation now that everyone has found out about him.  
  
"Sorry baby, but mommy has to get back to some important work that's waiting for her at home," I replied, ruffling his hair and kissing him lightly on the cheek. "I promise you'll get to see everyone again some day," I added, hoping it would make him feel a bit better about leaving. I hated making my son sad, but it would just hurt him even more if he ever saw me breakdown.  
  
"Does Andrew know we're leaving?" asked Keith, looking up at me.  
  
"No, but I'll let him know," I answered before zipping shut his bags. Now all that was left were my own belongings.  
  
"Is Jason leaving with us?" Keith asked, wondering why I was in such a hurry to gather our things so that we could leave in a few days.  
  
"Jason will come back when he's ready, but we have to leave first," I told him, not completely lying. Jason will return to New York when he realizes that we've left, and of course I will tell Andrew that we left the minute our plane lands at the airport in New York. So it was lying entirely, it was just delaying the inevitable right?  
  
~Jason's Suite~  
  
"I wonder what happened last night?" thought Jason as he sat there eating his breakfast and skimming through the morning news while he ate. Everyone seemed a bit tense when he left with Keith last night, and Sere didn't say a word when she picked Keith up afterwards. When he finished his breakfast, he got dressed and headed over to Sere's suite to check up on things. 'Hope she's okay,' he thought to himself as he knocked gently on the door.  
  
"That must be Jason, why don't you go clean up a bit while mommy cleans up and gets the door okay?" I told my son as I placed our bags into the closet and straightened out my outfit before answering the door. "Hey, come on in, how was your sleep?" I asked, trying to make conversation as I searched the room for any bags I might have left lying around.  
  
"It was okay, I just had breakfast, did you guys get a chance to order up any?" asked Jason, smiling as he took a seat across from me at the table.  
  
"Nope, not yet, waiting for slow poke to wash up first," I answered cheerfully.  
  
"Okay mama, all done now! Hi Jason!" called out Keith as he ran towards us and hopped into a chair beside me. "What are we having?" asked me son as I heard to stomach grumble hungrily.  
  
"Whatever you want sweetie," I answered as we all laughed after hearing his stomach growl. I ordered up some breakfast and a pot of coffee for Jason so he could sip on while Keith and I ate our breakfast. We talked about taking a walk and possibly even going for a drive with everyone to the beach.  
  
"Does that mean I can go swimming?" asked Keith excitedly. He jumped out of his seat and ran to his room to grab his beach bag, which he had brought along just in case we ever decided to have an outing on the beach.  
  
"I guess that means we should go get some swimwear then," I suggested, smiling as my son played with his toys.   
  
We cleaned up a bit and headed out to gather some supplies before calling everyone up to let them know of the surprise putting we had just planned and agreed to meet up later on during the afternoon for some fun and relaxation. While shopping, I purchased a bathing suit for myself and Keith while Jason went to his task of putting together a picnic basket for everyone. At noon, we met up at the beach and enjoyed the great weather. Played a little volleyball, took a few dips into the ocean and then had lunch before sitting around to soak in some sun. It was a nice day, full of chattering and laughing, just like I wanted it to be. I planned to leave the morning after tomorrow, so I wanted to spend as much quality time with everyone as possible. I owed it to them and to Keith to enjoy the little time we had left with one another.  
  
"Let's take a walk Sere," suggested Andrew, taking hold of my hand and helping me up from my seat. I smiled and let everyone know we'd be back in a few before heading off with Andrew towards a more secluded spot.  
  
"So what's up?" I asked, curious as to why he decided to take a walk all of a sudden. "Something on your mind?" I added, seeing the look on his face.  
  
"I suppose you could say that," answered Andrew meekly.  
  
"So spill already," I teased lightly.  
  
"Well, it's about Jason," said Andrew quietly as my face went from cheer to serious in all but a mere second. "I think he's rather depressed about you," I heard Andrew say in a more serious tone. "You know it hurts him a lot to see you in a state of distress," Andrew added, trying to get my attention.  
  
"I know," was all I could say. What more could I say? I know, but I'm sorry that I keep on hurting him? I mean, how can I help it when I can't even stop myself from feeling the way I do at times?  
  
"Then why don't you let it go Sere? It's been so long, and everyone worries about you all the time," asked Andrew in a concerned tone.  
  
"I don't know!" I answered, somewhat frustrated at myself. It hurts me the most to see so many being hurt by me. Sometimes I wish I could make it all go away, but I know that I can't because it never stops hurting. "I wish I could Andy, I really do," I cried as he took hold of me and hugged me tightly. Tears streamed down my face and Andrew and I just stood there in silence. I had been in so much pain for so long, that I didn't know how to let go of that pain. It haunted me day and night for the past five years that I guess I had let go take over my life.  
  
"It's okay Sere, we're all here for you if you need," whispered Andrew, kissing the top of my head lightly. "Just let it go and slowly you'll start to feel so much better, trust me on this," he said, rocking me back and forth in his arms.  
  
"I don't know where'd I be without you Andy, why are you always there when I'm in a tight spot?" I asked, looking up and smiling as tears continued to spill from my eyes. Andrew looked down and smiled as he wiped the tears from my face.  
  
"Because I love you silly," replied Andrew in an inaudible voice as he leaned down and pulled my chin up to meet his half way. It seemed like forever before his lips met my own, but oh the kiss was so sweet and gentle, I could have melted in his arms if he weren't already holding me. I never felt this way before, it was so dreamy, with the sun almost setting behind us and the waves thrashing against one another in the background. I could feel his tongue against my lips trying to get me to relax, and I did, opening up completely to him and letting the kiss take over. We stood there embracing one another for who knows how long before we pulled apart. Standing there trying to catch our breath, we stared at each other with a look of pure bliss on our eyes.  
  
"And you know I love you too," I whispered, poking him in the side and laughing before I ran off. My laughter bounced off the rocks and down the beach as Andrew chased after me. I think we were gone for a good two hours before we headed back to the group. Everyone still wonders what had gone on during those two hours, but that's a secret only Andrew and I know about. I never kiss and tell...  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Interesting... I wasn't expecting that to come out, but I guess I'm glad it ended up the way it did. I'm beginning to like just letting my hands type whatever comes to mind, it makes everything so much more exciting this way! 


	13. Running Away

~*AN*~  
  
Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, but my spring term has just begun and I have to get situated with classes and all. Anyway, here is the next chapter, hope you like it!  
  
~*Chapter XIII: Running Away*~  
  
The next morning I awoke bright and early to get things organized so that I could make a quick get away with Keith the following day. All of my bags were packed and I had made sure that the hotel knew of my arrangements to leave earlier than planned. It was of utmost importance that not a single person knew of my plans to leave so that there would be no delays to the airport. As I went through a checklist in my mind, Keith kept asking me why we had to leave.  
  
"Sweetie, can mommy just have a moment to herself to double check everything before she answers your question?" I pleaded with my son tiredly.  
  
"Fine, but I hope you know that I'm not very happy with this. You promised we could have fun and you're making me leave just when I was getting to know everyone!" he pouted in response and stomped off to his room quietly.  
  
'I'm so sorry Keith, but I just can't deal with everything plus running into those two again,' I thought, inwardly cringing as I heard Keith slam his bedroom door. "I don't know what to do anymore, its just getting way out of hand," I mumbled, falling into a nearby couch due to exhaustion.  
  
"Good morning Sere!" chimed Jason as he came into the suite, smiling from ear to ear. I could tell right then that something was up by the look on his face; he never looked that cheerful at such an early hour in the day.  
  
"What is it?" I asked nonchalantly. Sometimes I enjoyed hearing the favors or news he had in store for me, but right now I was just agitated with everything at the moment, so it just wasn't a good time.  
  
"Aw, why do you always think I want something from you?" asked Jason, feigning a hurt look as he took a seat a across from me.  
  
"Well, there is always a catch to those big beautiful smiles of yours," I replied, laughing when he glared at me.  
  
"Okay, I admit that sometimes they aren't always the best things I have to do, but surely you'll love this one!" answered Jason, smiling afterwards.  
  
"So lay it on me then," I told him, leaning back into the couch to get comfortable before I heard what he had to say.  
  
"Well, just a thought really, but the boss wants to know if you'd like to take up a position as the regional manager of a new addition he intends on building right here in Tokyo!" replied Jason as quickly as he could.  
  
"What?" I finally managed to say after some time had passed. Jason almost face faulted after waiting almost five minutes for my reply. I suppose everything was a little too much for me to take in, so I hadn't really gotten a chance to grasp the concept of what he had just thrown my way.  
  
"Moonlight Fashions Inc. intends on expanding and is constructing a branch right here in Japan," Jason said in a slower pace, emphasizing each and every word.  
  
"Okay, I didn't quite understand what you said the first time, but I'm not ignorant you jerk!" I griped at him, swatting him with one of my couch pillows. "That's just down right wrong!" I added.  
  
"Sorry," he replied, trying not to laugh so hard. To no luck, he started coughing horribly when he almost choked while laughing. Now that was a funny sight to see! I quickly ran over and started tapping his back and rubbing it so that he would relax and take in air the correct way instead of in gasps.  
  
"You're so stupid sometimes Jason, that's what you get for being so immature!" I scolded him as I headed into the kitchen to get him a glass of water.  
  
"I know that was uncalled for, but I couldn't help myself, you were just so dumbfounded that I couldn't resist," explained Jason, sipping on the warm water I handed him. "So what's it going to be? Are you accepting the offer or not?" he asked me, suddenly switching from playful to a serious tone.  
  
"I'm declining," I responded in a monotonous tone. It's not that I wasn't ecstatic that I was offered and position as regional manager, but there was no way in hell that I would take up a permanent job here in Tokyo where I would most likely run into two people that I didn't want to ever see again.  
  
"What? Why?" asked Jason as soon as I had answered him. "You're not even going to take some time to consider? I mean this is the job you've been dreaming of ever since you started working at Moonlight Fashions Sere!" Jason tried arguing with me, hoping that maybe he could convince me otherwise.  
  
"Sorry, it's not that I'm not happy that I got the offer, but the location isn't exactly what I had always thought it would be," I replied simply.  
  
"Where else would you want to be? This is a fantastic location to work at! Now you can be with your family and friends again, what more can you ask for?!" yelled Jason getting more upset as each moment passed. I felt guilty for angering him, but I will not do anything that would ever make me unhappy in any way, and taking this job offer would do exactly that.  
  
"What makes you think you know where I want to be? Who are you to tell me what I want out of life?" I bit back with half the amount of anger inside of me as Jason did. "I aspire to become so much more than you or anyone can ever imagine, and I refuse to do anything that aren't a part of my plans for my future. This is my life Jason, and I make the decisions in it, not you or anyone else," I told him more serious now than ever in my life. "Why do you keep being so persistent about persuading me to move back to Tokyo to spend the rest of my life there? Do you like the thought of me living a miserable life until the day I die? Or do you seriously think that if I confront Darien and Raye, that my life will just suddenly become so grand that I'd forget about all the pain I've been through?" I asked him, trying to see if he would continue arguing with me any further. When I got no response, I turned and headed off towards my own room.  
  
"Why do you always run away from your problems Sere? You think that it helps ease the pain, but it only makes things worse. Sometimes I wish you weren't so hard-headed, that way you'd understand why I keep pushing you so hard," said Jason quietly as he got up from his seat and left the suite. From me bedroom door, I could see Jason's slouched form stagger out of the front door and shut it quietly. I felt so bad for taking all my anger out on him, but sometimes I wished he would stop pushing me face my fears all the damned time.  
  
"I'm so sorry Jason, but you just don't understand the way I feel," I whispered as I watched him leave with a sad look on his face. Sometimes I hated being myself, especially when it came to moments like these. No one ever likes to see their self-inflicted pain hurting the ones they love most. Yet why does every one insist that I stand my grounds and face my problems? It's not like I haven't faced enough problems in my life already, why should I go through the pain and suffering of more that can be steered clear of? With that said, my mind starts spinning as my thoughts begin to overwhelm me.  
  
~Andrew's Office~  
  
"Good afternoon Mr. Forbes, did you have a nice day off sir?" asked Andrew's secretary as he entered the office gleaming with happiness.  
  
"Why yes, thanks for asking Rachel," responded Andrew, passing by her desk on his way to his own office. Andrew's staff worked on weekly schedules, being that he shared the law firm with another lawyer, so every other week he would have Katherine as his secretary and Rachel for the others. It was a little complicated, but the company worked better with a change of things every now and then.  
  
"Seems like someone has a girlfriend," teased Rachel, which only caused Andrew to blush slightly as he shut the door and received a laugh from the lady behind the desk.  
  
"Yes, it seems like I do have a girlfriend now," Andrew said quietly to no one in particular. He was exhilarated when he heard Serena respond to his statement with the same words and feelings of her own. It was like a dream when they kissed, and that very moment had clouded his thoughts ever since. He couldn't stop smiling from their little moment, it was just so unbelievable that he couldn't stop thinking about it.  
  
"What girlfriend?" asked a voice seated at his desk suddenly, startling him back to reality as he spun around quickly to find out who was in his office at such an early hour that even his secretary hadn't known about. And who else other than Darien Shields himself could sneak into a private office without going unnoticed?  
  
"To what do I owe you for this unannounced visit Mr. Shields?" asked Andrew, suddenly changing his tone of voice from blissful to stern in all but two seconds.  
  
"Answer my question and I'll let you know why I'm here? Since when did you have a girlfriend?" asked Darien, eyeing Andrew cautiously as he waited for an answer.  
  
"My private life is not your concern Darien. Now either you explain yourself or exit the premises before I have your filthy being escorted out of her," threatened Andrew, already on the verge of beating him to a bloody pulp.  
  
"Touchy," replied Darien as he got up and walked towards the windows that overlooked downtown Tokyo. "My reason for being here is simple. I want to see Serena," answered Darien determined to have his ways.  
  
"Sorry, I can't do that. If you want an appointment to meet with MS. Moon, you'll have to call her offices and set one up, otherwise too bad," stated Andrew coolly.  
  
"I have every right to see her Andrew, it's important that I find out who that kid belongs to. For all I know, it could very well be mine without my ever knowing of it, and I'll be damned if I let my child go fatherless any longer!" yelled Darien angrily.  
  
"What in bloody name are you talking about? What the hell makes you think Keith is your son? God Darien, I've heard of over assumptions before, but this is just ridiculous!" replied Andrew in a mocking tone. "Have you even taken a good look at the kid? Did he look at all like you? Or maybe if you had gotten off your high horse, you might have noticed that her son in no way resembles you at all?" he laughed, thinking this was just too much. First Darien thinks he has a chance to get back with Sere, then he thinks he has a kid with her too? Can the guy be any more delirious than he already was?  
  
"You never know, he might have taken after Serena!" argued Darien, trying to defend himself from being made a laughing stock.  
  
"Darien, how on earth is it possible for you two to have a child together when she never slept with you? Are you seriously that ignorant or have you conjured up some memory of actually having made love to the woman you 'claimed' to have loved?" asked Andrew, trying to be more serious with the matter, but it was just too hard to believe.  
  
"Well, I don't know if we did or not. Back then things just happened so fast that I'm not sure anymore!" yelled Darien, looking like he was ready to boil over any moment now.  
  
"I can't believe you don't even remember the precious memories you made with Sere, and you say you love her, ha!" criticized Andrew. "If you ask me, I think you need a serious reality check Darien Shields, because there is no way in hell you'll ever get anywhere with Sere ever again," he told him flat out. "Oh yeah, one more thing, I think you should have your head checked," he added, opening the door and pointing towards the exit sign.  
  
"This isn't over yet," replied Darien, speechless as what more to say in his own defense. Was he really that bad of a person that his long time best friend would hate him so much now? On his way out, he turned to say one last thing to Andrew but was only met with a slam of his office door. 'What should I do?' thought Darien on his way out of the building.  
  
~Tsukino Household~  
  
"There is my perfect little grandson!" cooed Ilene as she opened the front door to find her daughter and grandchild standing there on her porch. "So what brings you two here this afternoon? Come to visit these two lonely old people?" she teased, ushering them into the kitchen to have a seat and help themselves to a few snacks she always had laying around for unexpected guests to show up.  
  
"Actually, we got bored so we thought we'd come bug you for a little mom," admitted Sere, smiling girlishly.  
  
"Oh, and I thought you actually missed me!" replied Ilene with a hurt look in her eyes.  
  
"I missed you nana!" cried Keith, running over and jumping into her grandma's lap as she burst into a laugh and tickled him.  
  
"Did you now?" asked Ilene, ruffling his hair slightly. Keith nodded his head vigorously and pulled her down to kiss her on the cheeks. "Aw, how sweet," she said and squeezed him tightly in her arms. "I just love receiving your kisses, they are just so sweet!" she said, touching the tip of his nose and tweaking it gently.  
  
"Trust me mom, he's only doing it to get some more of your delicious home-baked goodies," I joked and got a pout in response from Keith. We sat and talked for a bit about what other things were going on in our lives and any future plans. As I sat there watching my mother play with my son, I thought how sad it would be to rip the two apart now that they have just barely gotten to know one another. As the night wore on and hours started passing by, I began to think that maybe I could let Keith stay here for a little while to spend more time with his grandparents and uncle, that way he won't miss out on any childhood memories of them.  
  
"Well, it's getting late, you two should head back to the hotel and get ready to put Keith to bed," announced my father as we finished dinner and I helped my mother wash the dishes. While the two of us cleaned up the kitchen, my dad took the liberty of entertaining my son so he wouldn't have to sit alone while he waited for me to finish.  
  
"Hey mom? How about Keith spend the night over again?" I suggested, hoping she'd go along and agree with my plans.  
  
"Yeah, why not?! That would be great, your father and I would love to have him over again, and he's such a wonderful kid. Practically takes care of himself!" answered my mother, her eyes twinkling with happiness upon hearing my suggestion.  
  
"Great, so it's settled, he'll spend the night with you tonight and I'll pick him up some time tomorrow okay?" I asked, making sure she wouldn't think anything about my plans for letting him spend the night again.  
  
"Yeah, fine, anything you want to dear," replied my mother, wiping her hands on a towel and heading out to the living room to let everyone else know about the change of plans. I smiled, knowing how much this would mean to my parents and my son, they loved spending time together so this was my way of giving them more time with one another.  
  
"Okay, I guess I'll be leaving then. Good night mom and dad, night baby," I said, sliding into my coat and grabbing my handbag from the coat rack near the door. I kissed everyone good night and waved before I took off towards the hotel, feeling a bit saddened that I was leaving my son behind, but I kept telling myself that it was for the better. It's not like I wouldn't ever see my son again, I'm just letting them have more time together while I get away from all my troubles. That night, I didn't sleep very peacefully, so I stayed up working on a few sketches and finished the rest of my packing.  
  
About five o'clock in the morning I got out of bed and got dressed while the bellboy grabbed my bags and placed them into the cab that was waiting for me downstairs. After checking out, I had the clerk at the front desk to deliver some letters to Jason's room, making sure they weren't sent up to his room until after at least two hours. That way, I could leave without anyone running after me and making me feel guilty for leaving without letting them know about it. I quickly hopped into the cab and headed for the airport.   
  
Upon arriving at the airport, instead of heading to the gate that was departing for New York, I boarded another one. I was hoping to find some refuse from all my problems and be given a little time to think things over thoroughly. As the plane took off, I hoped that nobody would be mad at me for leaving. I intend on returning, so I prayed that until then, they would understand and give me my time alone.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
That's all for now. I've been having some writer's block and still don't know what to do with the ending. Any ideas? 


	14. Tears Shed

~*AN*~  
  
It's been a while since I've last updated, but things have happened that can change everything in your life. Hopefully, there won't be any sad departure of a loved one anytime in the near future. A family member of mine has been diagnosed with NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer, which in other words mean massive. Anyhow, I'm not discontinuing this story, but it will just be longer in between updates with all my problems right now. I would appreciate it if you understood my situation and not post anything vulgar about me not posting.  
  
~*Chapter XIV: Tears Shed*~  
  
So there I was on board a plane towards some random city I had chosen at the last moment for who knows what reason. It took only about two hours to arrive and after I got off the plane I went and found myself a nice little place to stay for the time being. By now, Jason would have received the letter most likely have headed over to my parents house.  
  
~Jason's Suite~  
  
'Hmm, what's that wonderful smell?' thought Jason, finally getting out of bed and slipping into a robe. "Mm, I smell coffee," was the first thing to leave his mouth as he headed out to get himself a fresh cup of java. There on the table was a tray of breakfast waiting for him beside a steaming pot of hot coffee. "Sere must have ordered it up for me," he assumed, sitting down and lifting the tray cover off his plate. After about half an hour of eating and sipping on his coffee while browsing through the newspaper, he got up and decided it was about time to get dressed. Just as he was about to shut the door to his bedroom, a knock was heard at the front door. "Okay, now what?" wondered Jason, heading back to answer the door.  
  
"Mr. Jason Payne?" asked the clerk courteously.  
  
"Yes?" replied Jason, his eyebrow quirking up with a questioning gaze.  
  
"Sorry to disturb you at such an early hour, but Ms. Moon had specifically asked me to delivery this note to you sir," responded the petite-sized lady, handing him a envelope.  
  
"Thank you," said Jason, a little confused as he took the letter uncertainly.  
  
"Have a nice day," she replied merrily before turning to leave.  
  
"That was interesting," whispered Jason, shutting the door and heading back towards his room to get dressed and see what the fuss was all about. After he got dressed, taking a seat down on his bed, he slowly opened the envelope and pulled out some paper.  
  
Dearest Jason,  
  
Hey sleepyhead, how was your rest? Good I hope. I'll bet you are probably wondering what the hell is going on just about now right? Well, in answer to that question Mr. Payne, I have to tell you something. Don't other heading over to my room, you won't find Keith or I there. I've taken it upon myself to check out of that room already. Keith sent the night at my parents' house so he's still there as you read this. But me, I'll have been long gone by now. I'm really sorry I didn't say anything until now. I didn't mean to not let you know, but it just sort of happened. I know you are probably thinking I've gone and done something stupid again, but I really need to be alone right now. So please don't be angry with me. I'll come back when I'm ready to face everybody, but for now, just give me my space okay? Behind this letter is a letter to my own parents and Keith, just so they don't worry about me. I hope you will deliver it and let them know that I will be fine and coming back soon. About the girls, I'll give them a call when I've gotten situated with my surroundings. Thank you so much for all you have done for and most of all for being my best friend. You don't know how much it means to me.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Serena  
  
After he finished reading the letter, it sort of just slid out of his hands. Shock was the least to say he was feeling at the moment. Had he really just read a letter from Sere, telling him that she had left everyone behind without any hint of where she was? This was just too hard to believe. How could she have been so irresponsible? What would her son think? For goodness sake, why was she always running away the moment something came up? Maybe it was because he pushed her so hard? How would Andrew and the girls take this? She has yet again left them without even a single good bye.  
  
"God Sere, what were you thinking?" Jason managed to say before he picked the letter back up and separated the one addressed to him from the ones that were for her parents and son. After slipping in into his coat pocket, he left the suite and headed over to the Tsukino's house to deliver the letter as Sere had asked of him. "I hope they take this okay," he prayed, pulling out of the garage and joining the rest of Tokyo in the streets.  
  
~Raye's Temple~  
  
The telephone rang and a lady dressed in the ceremonial priestess outfit answered it quietly in a room lit by a raging fire.  
  
"Really? Well, what an interesting turn of events. And you are certain of this?" asked Raye, a smile slowly starting to form on her stoic face.  
  
"Yes Ms. Hino, my sources tell me that the lady boarded a plane that was headed for   
  
Osaka," replied a man on the other end of the line.  
  
"Well, thank you for informing me. Please keep me posted of any other information that might catch your eye," replied Raye quickly. When she received a yes from the man, she let the phone fall back onto its hook and turned back to the fire to continue her chant. "Serena Moon, it seems that there is more to you than meets the eye. Now why are you running away little bunny of the moon?" she wondered, voice filled with venom as her eyes gleamed over.  
  
~Sere's Villa~  
  
"There, perfect!" I said, finally finishing the last few touches around the room. Once I had arrived, I just had to head back out and go buy a few décor for the room. The spirit was just not there so I had to put it there. Smiling, I took a step back and admired the scene before me. Candles were laid about as was a few throw pillows, some magazines dawned the coffee table and a soft fleece blanket was hanging off the edge of the love seat. "Now that's what I call comfortable," I managed to say, falling into the chair and snuggling into the blanket. Thinking back to the more serious matters at hand, I thought about everyone back in Tokyo. How were they taking the news? Would they be angry with me? God, so many things were running through my head all at the same time that I just wanted to scream. And so I did.  
  
~Tsukino House~  
  
"Hey Jason!" cried Keith as he opened the door and jumped into Jason's arms instantly after greeting him. Ilene came out with a bright smile and shook her head at her grandson's antics. "Grandma, look who is here!" he pointed out.  
  
"I see," laughed Ilene, ushering Jason into the corridors and towards the living room.  
  
"Morning, sorry to come so early in the morning," replied Jason apologetically.  
  
"Oh don't worry about it honey, Keith had us up an hour ago!" said Ilene, smiling as she took a seat beside her husband.  
  
"Hey Jason, nice of you to drop by!" greeted Ken as he rubbed Ilene's back gently.  
  
"Well, there is a reason to all of this," said Jason solemnly. "I don't know how to say this, so I guess I'll just give it to you," he added, pulling out some folded paper and handing one to them and the other to Keith, who only looked at him confusingly.  
  
"What's the meaning of all this?" asked Ken, looking at the paper, a little lost with words.  
  
"Well, it's a letter that explains everything, better than I would be able to," answered Jason quietly, waiting for them to open their letter.  
  
"Hey, this looks like Mama's handwriting," spoke up Keith after glancing it over quickly.  
  
"Serena?" asked Ilene, concern clearly written on her face now. After a short moment, she and her husband both looked up at Jason in disbelief. "Is this some sort of joke?" she asked, not wanting to believe the paper in her hands, as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.  
  
"Mama left me?" asked Keith, unsure of how to react to what he had read. His letter fell to the floor as he ran to his grandmother and began crying. Jason looked at the little guy with so much remorse in his eyes.  
  
My Darling Baby Keith,  
  
I'm sorry to be doing this to you sweetie, but mommy has to go away for a little while. I hope you are not angry with me. I'll be back for you soon, I promise baby, but right now I have a few things I need to set straight first. Please be good for grandma and grandpa while I am away. Don't think that I don't love you anymore baby, because that will never happen. You are my precious baby, my pride and joy so I would never ever leave you. Behave yourself and mommy will come to get you soon, it'll just be like when I'm away on a business trip. I'll be back before you know it honey, so don't cry okay? I love you.  
  
Smile, I'm Thinking Of You Right Now =)  
  
The other letter was similar to Jason's letter, except it was in respect to Sere's bond to her parents and their life together. She asked them to take care of Keith while she was away and let them know that she would be home soon. After all the crying was done, everyone sat down and tried to calm down while they talked about the whole ordeal. It was quite shocking, but they had to accept the fact there Sere had once again left them just when they thought things were going great. No one really knew how to react, so they just tried to comfort Keith and just wait it out until she would come to her senses and came back to those who love her. Jason took it upon himself to call Andrew and let him know of the news since Sere had not mentioned who would be letting him know, so he and Keith both called up Andrew. Within minutes, Andrew was over at the house breathing heavily.  
  
"What do you mean she's gone?" asked Andrew, still not believing his ears. What the hell was going on here? One moment she was here and laughing with everyone, the next she was gone and nowhere to be found. He didn't understand why she had left because he thought things had gone great, especially after the kiss they shared. Didn't it mean that she had finally let go of her past and was ready to move on with her future, the future he actually thought he was going to be a part of. "So let me get this straight, she's gone but nobody did anything to run her off?" questioned Andrew, confused with the whole story.  
  
"Well, we're not sure. I think that maybe it was running into some unexpected people that caused her to panic and take off, but who knows," replied Jason, throwing his hands up in defeat. He seemed a bit tired and very stressed out enough as it was, but to top it off, he was frustrated because for once he was clueless as to where Sere was.  
  
"Stop being so hard on yourself, we're her parents and we're not even taking it that hard. And she ran away from us once before!" said Ken fiercely.  
  
"Ken is right, she has run away and come home to us once before, so she'll come back to us again," added Ilene, trying to think positive.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
That's all for now, I'm tired. Hope you liked. 


	15. A Possibility

~*AN*~  
  
Chinese New Year is here and I'm getting my act together so that my new year will be a good one. Decided that if I wrote more during the festivities, then it would mean that I would keep the same pace all year long. It's a good sign to be extra clean and not lazy during Chinese New Year, it just shows that if you start off a new year in a good way, then the rest of the year will follow through the same way. So even though there are misfortunes going on with my family, I still have to look on the brighter side and make the best of it. Just have to concentrate on studying hard in school and praying more for my loved ones. Anyway, enough with the small talk, I hope you like this chapter.  
  
~*Chapter XV: A Possibility*~  
  
So everyone finally got wind of Sere's quick departure from Tokyo and were all trying to cope with the shock. The girls were all disappointed to here that she had left them without a single notice, just like the last time. No one considered looking for her because the last time she took off, they searched for weeks on end and had no luck, so they decided to just wait it out this time. On one hand, she might return within a short period of time since her son was still with her parents, but on the other hand she might not come back for weeks or even months because Keith was mature enough to cope with the situation at hand.  
  
"I can't believe she left again," muttered Mina as she and the other girls were walking around town. They had all met up for lunch and decided to go window-shopping as a means of relieving some stress.  
  
"That's not what surprises me though, after everything that happened, we should have seen this coming. But for her to leave Keith behind, that's different," brought up Amy.  
  
"Yeah, that's a little odd," Lita jumped in on Amy, mid-sentence.  
  
"What's so odd, she decided to ditch the little bastard and run away like she always does. That way when Darien questions about Keith's father, she wouldn't have to make herself look like a whore," laughed Raye as she strutted past the girls, shoving them aside.  
  
"Why you little skank! You should look at yourself before you call Serena a whore!" cried Mina angrily as she threw a heated glare at Raye.  
  
"Please, I'm not the one who god knocked up by some stranger and had a bastard for a son," retorted Raye, looking over her nails and dusting off the lint on her suit. It was a crimson knee length skirt with matching blazer and black stiletto heels   
  
"Oh shut up already you slut," spat out Lita, tired of hearing Raye bad mouth Serena behind her back. "What the hell are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be off somewhere, begging Darien to screw you?" she asked sarcasm dripping in her voice.  
  
"That's enough, we don't need to waste our energy on this low life," said Amy, pushing her way through the girls and walking pass Raye, eyes icing over as she brushed shoulders with her former friend.  
  
"Amy's right, I don't have time for this. I promised I'd take Keith to the doctor's office today, so we better get a move on," mentioned Mina, glancing at her wrist to check the time so she wouldn't be late for the appointment.  
  
"What's wrong? I thought the little kid would be better off without that poor excuse of a mother around," replied Raye, laughing as Mina and Lita walked by her.  
  
"You know what, Sere did a wonderful job raising her son. You wouldn't know the first thing about the love and care a child would need, you heartless bitch," argued Lita, defending Serena's dignity as a mother.  
  
"Whatever, I have better things to do," said Raye, brushing her hair aside and walking away from the girls. Her next target was Darien; surely he'd fall for her plan. That fool would believe anything if it had to do with his supposed, "love of his life".  
  
"What's wrong with Keith?" asked Amy, concern apparent on her face once Raye was out of sight. Just the other day, he was doing fine when they had stopped by to visit, so how did he get sick so quick? If they didn't take care of Serena's child while she was away, how would she react when she came home?  
  
"Not sure, Jason said something about him being anemic, so I'm taking him to get some tests run," answered Mina, pulling out her handheld PDA and pulling up her schedule.  
  
"Oh, the poor guy. I'll bake him a cake to cheer him up after his visit with the doctor and drop it off at the house later tonight," said Lita, frowning a little.  
  
"You should be prepared Mina. He's going to cry when they start taking his blood. I'm sure he's just like his mother when it comes to needles," Amy reminded Mina. The girls all smiled and laughed quietly at the memory of Serena back in junior high, when the entire school was required to get a shot for measles, mumps, and rubella.  
  
"Oh crap, I'm not very good with needles either!" replied Mina, beginning to freak out as she thought of ways to help calm Keith down if he does start to fuss. "What do I do? What am I going to do?" she started asking the two girls frantically.  
  
"Don't worry about it Mina, all you have to do is tell him to close his eyes, and before you know it, it'll be over with!" answered Lita, laughing at the distraught blonde.  
  
"Exactly what Lita said, that's the same trick we always use at the hospital," added Amy, trying to calm Mina down by patting her back gently. "If you want, you can just have that appointment transferred to my office at the hospital and I can take care of everything for you Mina," she suggested, pulling out an organizer to double check her schedule.  
  
"Really Amy? You can do that?" asked Mina, hope clearly in her eyes.  
  
"Of curse I can, just let me pen you in. Lets see, I have an opening in two hours, you think you can make it there by then?" replied Amy, pushing her glasses back up to their original place.  
  
"Cool, I'll go pick Keith up now, and we'll see you in two hours!" cried Mina in joy. She hugged the girls good bye and hailed a taxi for herself to head over to the Tsukino's house.  
  
"That girl still amazes me to no end. I can't believe after all those years of thinking her and Serena would get no where in life, they shock us all by becoming one of the most sought after business women," whispered Lita, watching the taxi speed off into the distance. Amy smiled and waved as she saw Mina turn around in her seat to wave to them once more before the taxi rounded a corner.  
  
"I'm very proud of them. Now that you think about it, I feel bad for putting them down so much back then. It's not like they weren't capable of being smart back then, I guess now we know that they just wanted to be young and have fun while they could," replied Amy, smiling sadly as she remembered all the times they had all ganged up against the two blondes for not being more responsible in life.  
  
"Yeah, we were hard on them, but they knew it was all out of love," said Lita, placing an arm over Amy's shoulder as she pulled her in the direction of the hospital. "Come on Ames, I'll walk you," she offered cheerfully.  
  
"Thanks," was Amy's silent reply as they walked towards the hospital. Nothing more was said between the two as they made their way to the tall building that stood apart from all the other business buildings in downtown Tokyo.  
  
~Mina~  
  
"Hi Mrs. Tsukino, I'm here to pick Keith up for his doctor's appointment," announced Mina merrily as she stood at the front door, still trying to catch her breath from running.  
  
"Oh, hello Mina! Thank you so much for taking Keith for me, I'm just so busy with preparing for Ken's business dinner tonight that I can't find a moment to spare today," explained Ilene, opening the door wider to let Mina in. "Come in and I'll go get Keith ready," she said before heading upstairs.  
  
"I'll just wait here, the taxi is out front waiting for us," replied Mina quickly; hoping Ilene would get the hint.  
  
"Mina!" cried Keith as he came rushing down the staircase and into Mina's arms. Smiling she grabbed the little tike and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm ready! Let's go!" he added enthusiastically.  
  
"Well, I suppose you won't be needing a coat then?" asked Mrs. Tsukino, shaking at Keith in a motherly way.  
  
"Thanks grandma," replied Keith, wiggling out of Mina's arms and slipping his arms into the coat before grabbing Mina's free hand with his own. "Okay, now I'm ready!" he announced with a smile.  
  
"See you later then sweetie. Thanks again Mina," said Ilene as she bent down and kissed her grandson's cheek. They waved and walked towards the taxi.  
  
"So where are we going?" asked Keith curiously.  
  
"Um, well honey.." answered Mina, stuttering as she tried to think of an easier way to tell him. "I don't know how else to say this, so I'm going to be blunt okay?" she told him after a moment of silence. "I'm taking you to see Amy for a check up," she finished, sighing in relief as the truth was out in the open.  
  
"For what? Is something wrong?" Keith asked, shaking lightly in fear.  
  
"No sweetie, just to see how you are doing on the inside. It shouldn't take long," Mina said, poking him lightly in the tummy. The arrived at the hospital and Keith hesitantly got out of the taxi. He was silent the whole way up to Amy's office and Mina felt awful for having to put him through this whole ordeal.  
  
"Hey you two, I see you made it up here okay," welcomed Amy cheerfully as she hugged Keith and ruffled his hair. "Okay big guy, you ready?" she asked, smiling to reassure him that he was in good hands.  
  
"Yeah," whispered Keith with a sad look in his eyes.  
  
"What happened?" Amy whispered to Mina silently when she got up from her spot beside him.  
  
"He asked about the visit and I told him it was a check up, I guess he's scared. I feel so bad," answered Mina, frowning at seeing Keith's eyes tear up slightly.  
  
"Don't worry about it Mina, I'll talk to him and take care of this okay?" replied Amy, taking hold of Keith's hand and walking him into the private room and setting him on top of the clinic bed. Mina followed suit and they did the normal routine check up. "All right, looks like everything is fine from what I see Keith. But there is one more thing I have to check before I can let you leave okay?" said Amy in the sweetest tone possible. "I want you to turn and look and Mina, while you're doing that, can you recite the pledge of allegiance to me?" instructed Amy as she went to the drawer and pulled out a few items.  
  
"Okay," answered Keith shakily as he turned and faced Mina. Taking a deep breath, he slowly began reciting the words for Amy and Mina to hear. He jumped slightly when he felt something pinch his arm but continued with the pledge as asked.  
  
"Sorry sweetie," apologized Amy, rubbing his arm gently as she continued drawing blood into a tiny container. Within a few seconds, she was finished and had withdrawn the needle and disposed of everything just as Keith finished the last words.  
  
"With liberty and justice for all," Keith said, completing the pledge and smiling at Mina as she clapped quietly. "How was that?" he asked, turning around to face Amy.  
  
"That was great! Did that pinch hurt earlier?" Amy asked curiously.  
  
"No, not really, just kind of surprised me," answered Keith as he looked down at the bandage on his arm. "What's this?" he asked, reaching over to touch it when Amy took his hand away.  
  
"I had to take some blood so it can be tested, that's why you felt that little pinch. I'm sorry about that, but since you were such a great sport about it, you can take one of these home," replied Amy, holding up a lollipop and smiling.  
  
"Thanks, but why didn't you just tell me?" he asked, his mouth forming a little pout that they had tricked him.  
  
"We're sorry sweetie! It's just that we didn't want you to fret or cry about being pricked for blood," admitted Mina, pulling him into a hug.  
  
"I'm not mad, but it wouldn't have scared me if you told me first," replied Keith quietly.  
  
"What do you mean?" inquired Amy.  
  
"Mama always takes me to the doctor for this," he told them. "I'm a big boy now, so I don't cry anymore," he added, smiling as Mina helped him down from his seat.  
  
"Well I'll be," stated Mina, laughing as she set him back on his feet. "And all this time I was freaking out worrying about how you would react!" she said, shaking her head.  
  
"Okay, now that everything is all set, why don't you two head on home while I this off to be tested. I'll give you a call once the radiology office has the results ready," stated Amy, slipping out of the gloves she previously had on when she took the blood from Keith's arm. Mina and Keith waved bye to Amy as she walked them out of her office and headed in opposite directions.  
  
~Darien's Office~  
  
"Mr. Shields, I have a Miss Raye Hino outside demanding to see you sir," announced the secretary as she stood in front of Darien's desk holding a folder full of files he needed to sign. "Shall I call security sir?" she asked when he did not respond.  
  
"No, go ahead and let her in, we'll see what the witch wants this time," said Darien, turning around to look her in the eye and smile dashingly at her. She blushed profusely and quickly turned to leave; on her way out she let Raye know that Darien was waiting for her inside.  
  
"What the hell was all that Darien Shields? I had to wait for her to check and see if it was okay before letting me in to see you! She was the most rude person I have ever met, you should really get better help," Raye griped as she took a seat in front of Darien. He rolled his eyes and set aside his paperwork before looking up at her.  
  
"To what do I owe this wonderful visit?" retorted Darien.  
  
"I took the liberty of bringing the news directly to you. It seems your perfect Serena has run away again, only this time she left her brat kid behind," answered Raye, mischief clearly in her eyes.  
  
"What?" asked Darien, getting out of his chair and walking around to Raye. "Did I just hear that correctly or are you pulling some stunt again?" he asked, arms gripping onto her tightly.  
  
"No, I had a detective tail her ass," answered Raye, pulling back in pain. "You're hurting me Darien," she stuttered.  
  
"Sorry, where did she go? Why did she leave behind her son?" asked Darien inquisitively.  
  
"To Osaka for heck knows what. Don't know why the brat is with her parents, but have my sources checking that out," stated Raye monotonously. She walked over to his bar and poured herself a shot of Hennessey before returning to her seat leisurely.  
  
"Surely there is a reason, how much is it going to take to find out?" asked Darien seriously.  
  
"Nothing, but I do have a request. Here me out," replied Raye in a hushed tone. "Just a wild thought and all, but have you considered having a paternity test run on that child? I mean, after all, there is a possibility that he could be your son right?" she questioned. "We all know that you were orphaned at a young age, so do you really want that to happen to a kid that might be yours?" she added, inwardly laughing as she realized that her little statement had tipped him over the edge.  
  
"What are you talking about Raye? You don't even know what went on back then between Serena and I," stated Darien, face as stoic as a statue. Raye laughed and got up from her seat.  
  
"Suit yourself Darien. But I know that Serena was a whore back then, why else would she have a son today?" said Raye sarcastically as she left Darien to his thoughts.  
  
'What if that little boy is mine? I'd have someone to call my family, real live flesh and blood of my own,' thought Darien to himself as he sat there on the floor of his office quietly.  
  
"Oh my god, are you all right sir?" asked his secretary, bringing him back from his trial of thoughts.  
  
"Yes, fine. Do something for me, cancel all appointments I have today, there is something more important to take care of," commanded Darien as he got up from the floor and buttoned his jacket before heading out to his car. Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed a familiar number quickly. "Michael? Yes, I need to call in a favor. Can you have a DNA test run for me and a kid named Keith Moon? Don't ask why, just do it. As soon as possible," said Darien to the person on the other end of the line. When the conversation was finished, Darien hopped into his black Porsche and sped out of the garage.  
  
~Sere~  
  
"Hey Michelle, what's up?" I answered my cell when it rang. I was out lounging on the veranda, enjoying the rain outside.  
  
"I just called to double check your deadline for the spring line?" answered Michelle.  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot!" I replied, laughing lightly. These past few days had been great for my mind. No past to bother me every time I take a step outside the front door. And no one there to tell me that they understand when they have no idea of what was going on inside my head.  
  
"What, are you kidding me?" asked Michelle; shocked that Sere's perfectionist persona had suddenly disappeared.  
  
"Well, not really," I answered nervously. "Anyway, back to business Michelle. What is my extension for turning in the outlines again?" I asked more seriously this time.  
  
"The boss was a little concerned about your plans, but he went ahead and okayed the extension for another month, but those outlines must be turned in pronto Rena," stated Michelle in a strict motherly way.  
  
"Thanks, I owe you," I said gratefully. "Anyway, if that's all, I'll have to let you go for the day. Tell Alex I said hello!" I added, glancing down at the time before heading inside.  
  
"Will do Miss Moon," said Michelle in a military voice. I could only laugh in response at her childish antics.  
  
"Serenity Elizabeth Moon, you get you butt back here this instant!" boomed a loud voice suddenly, interrupting the conversation that was currently going on.  
  
"Alex! How dare you ease drop on my phone call!" yelled Michelle angrily. I could hear her place the phone down and storm into Alex's office and start yelling. Not wanting to hear any more yelling, I decided to let them have their privacy and hung up my end of the line.  
  
"Boy, I would sure hate to be in his shoes right now," I said, taking a seat at my desk and pulling out my portfolio. Five minutes into the drawings, my mind began to drift off to my son Keith. 'I wonder how he is doing,' I asked myself, unconsciously reaching for my cell. When I came out of my thoughts I looked down to see that I had already dialed my parent's number half way so I decided to give them a call and check up on things.  
  
"Hello, Tsukino residence," answered a woman's voice on the other end. Sounded like my mother, but I was quite surely since the lady sounded quite distraught.  
  
"Hi, mom?" I asked, unsure of how to respond.  
  
"Serena, is that you sweetheart?" asked the woman surprisingly in a more calm voice this time.  
  
"Yes, is that you mom?" I asked once more, making sure I wouldn't make a fool of myself.  
  
"Oh for heaven sake Serena, who else would it be?" lectured my mother beginning to sound frustrated.  
  
"Sorry, what's wrong? You sound so, I don't know, hectic?" I asked in a worried tone.  
  
"You're father is having this big business dinner at our house tonight, and I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off!" answered my mother exhaustedly. "Anyway, where on earth have you been young lady?! Your father and I have been worried sick! Not to mention my poor grandchild is missing his mother like crazy!" my mother scolded me.  
  
"Sorry, but I just needed some time to think. Anyhow, I called to let you know that I'm okay and that I'll be back in a few days okay?" I told her straight out. "How's Keith? Is he behaving himself?" I asked, hoping that he wasn't giving my parents too much of a hard time.  
  
"He's an angel honey. Mina took him to the hospital for some blood testing today so that I could prepare for this dinner," answered my mother after taking a deep breath.  
  
"Blood test? What's wrong? Is he sick? I'll be on the first flight home!" I answered as my face lost all color.  
  
"No honey, he's not sick. We just wanted to make sure his anemia was doing okay," my mother told me reassuringly, just as I let out the breath that I was holding. What would I have done if my precious baby were sick? What kind of a mother am I? It felt horrible hearing that something was going on in my son's life and I wasn't there to hold his hand and guide him through it.  
  
"Nonetheless mom, I'll be on my way home soon. Tell Keith that I love him," I said as I rushed to my closet and began packing my clothes frantically with my free hand.  
  
"Okay, be careful sweetie. I'll see you soon then," was my mother's response before we both hung up. Soon afterwards, I called the airlines and arranged for the first available flight home to Tokyo.  
  
~Amy's Office~  
  
"Amy?" called out a nurse as she gently knocked on Amy's office door and came in. "I got the results for that adorable little kid that was in here for a blood test this afternoon," she handed them over with a smile.  
  
"He's a cutie," said Amy, mouthing a quick thanks before browsing through the papers.  
  
"I'd hate to have to poke such a sweet little boy," said the nurse, standing beside the desk.  
  
"He's a big boy, very intellectual," replied Amy, the smile on her face fading when something caught her eye. Keith's blood type turned out to be AB. What made her stop reading was the fact that Serena didn't have that blood type, hers was type O, which made Amy a little curious. 'That must mean Keith here takes after his father?' Amy thought to herself.  
  
"Everything okay Amy?" asked the nurse cheerfully.  
  
"Great, I have to let his grandmother and the girls know before they worry to death," laughed Amy as she responded the question and picked up the phone to call the Tsukino house. After she let everyone know of the good news, Amy left her office to do a quick round and check up on her patients before her shift would be over. Unaware to Amy, a figure entered her office quickly after she left down the hallway towards the patient rooms. They rummaged through her files, taking pictures of things they were searching for before heading out of the office without any of the staff noticing.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
Okay, that looks like a good place to stop. Hope everyone approved of it! Please R&R!! 


	16. Trial & Error

~*AN*~  
  
Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated, but I posted another story to keep everyone busy in the mean time while I finish up this chapter. Been busy with exams and classes, so be a little patient.  
  
~*Chapter XVI: Trial & Error*~  
  
  
  
Pulling the parking lot of a local bar, Darien got out of his black Porsche and headed inside to meet Michael, whom he had been speaking to on the phone earlier.  
  
"Did you find out what I asked you to?" questioned Darien, looking around to make sure no familiar faces were present.  
  
"Yeah, I sent off the papers and samples just a short while ago, they should arrive at the clinic tomorrow morning. My guess is, you'll receive a result by the end of the week," answered Michael. "Now would you mind telling me what's going on?" he added after taking a sip of the scotch he had been holding onto.  
  
"I'm trying to find out if I fathered a child or not," said Darien bluntly, receiving a chocked reaction from his business associate/friend.  
  
"What? Seriously?" Michael responded after his fit of coughs died down. "Wait 'til the boys hear about this," he muttered, wiping his shirt clean. "How'd this happen? And do I know her?" he threw in quickly.  
  
"High school sweetheart. Well, sort of at least. She was in high school and I was in my freshman year at the university," answered Darien briefly.  
  
"Wow, I didn't think there was anything the guys and I didn't know about you, but I guess there is more to you than meets the eye," Michael managed to say. They talked about a few things while Darien told him of the relationship he had with Serena and how she left him out of the blue a few years ago. "So you think the kid might be yours?' wondered Michael, after Darien finished his story.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, the boy is around that age. What else am I to assume?" replied Darien, finishing off his Hennessey.  
  
"So you guys slept together? When she was still in high school? Damn Darien, I knew you liked them young, but dating high school chicks is a whole new level dude. You were rocking the cradle for a while there,' laughed Michael.  
  
"Quiet you moron! What are you trying to do, get me arrested?" Darien seethed.  
  
"Sorry," whispered Michael, looking around quickly.  
  
"I don't even remember if we even went that far. All I know is that we did some pretty crazy things back then. So maybe it did or never happened at all, that's why I asked you to help me find out," came Darien's confession.  
  
"What are you going to do if he's your son man?" wondered Michael suddenly.  
  
"I already filed for custody, once the results come back, I'll have my proof to win the case," answered Darien. He wasn't going to let Serena run away with a piece of himself again, not this time at least.  
  
~Tsukino House~  
  
"HE WHAT?!" Ken's voice boomed throughout the house. Word had gotten around that a lawsuit was heading towards the Tsukino family. Once the press got wind of the information, they spread it all over the newspapers like fire. Andrew had called everyone up and they were all meeting at the house to discuss things.  
  
"The nerve of that guy. Who does he think he is? I mean, what right does he even have to try and pull a stunt like this?" asked Mina, pacing back and forth impatiently.  
  
"Actually, he might have ever right. No one really knows who fathered Keith, so he might have a possible argument," Amy mentioned.  
  
"Amy!" said Lita, shocked at her friend's response. Amy could only send an apologetic look at everyone.  
  
"I just got off the phone with the boys, they're on their way here right now,' announced Ken suddenly.   
  
Ilene was holding onto Keith for dear life, she couldn't believe what was happening. Here she just got reacquainted with her daughter and grandchild, now she might lose him again? Not to mention that her daughter had left Keith under her care when she left, what was she going to tell Serena when she came home? She prayed that her daughter would return soon to settle everything before it got out of hand. Just then the doorbell rang.  
  
"Hi, sorry it took us so long, but I had to rearrange all my cases so I could personally handle this one," babbled Andrew as he and Jason stormed into the living room.  
  
"Hello," Jason said quickly before taking a seat beside Mina and smiling at everyone.  
  
"So, how do things look?" asked Mina before anyone could say hello to the boys.  
  
"Not good, there isn't any proof against Darien's claim, so we're going to have to duke it out in court. If only Sere were here, then we would have access to her personal files and rub this case all over his face," said Andrew tiredly.  
  
~Meanwhile in Osaka~  
  
"Sorry Ms. Moon, we don't have any available flights back to Tokyo for another two days," said the operator courteously.  
  
'Damn it,' I cursed inwardly. "Okay, thanks anyways," I said before hanging up. Looks like I'm going to have to wait to see my baby. 'I hope he's doing okay,' I thought before going to bed. I was tired from calling around to all the airlines and looking for a flight home, not to mention all the worries that were running through my mind.  
  
~End of Week~  
  
"So in theory you honor, Darien Shields really has no case against the Tsukino family, nor the right to take Keith from them," commented Andrew to everyone in the courtroom.  
  
"Objection! There isn't any proof whose child this is. All my client is asking for is to see if the child is his or not. And if it so turns out that he is my client's son, then he wishes to have the privileges any father is given, argued Darien's lawyer.   
  
The case went on like this for over half an hour before the judge called for a recess. Neither party was really ahead of the other since there wasn't any proof in favor or against them. When court resumed, everyone came back and the arguing continued on for another hour.  
  
"Sir, I have here in my hands, proof that could very well slide this case in our favor," said Darien's lawyer suddenly. Just as he was about the approach the bench, a figure stormed into the courtroom.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt your honor, but my files are confidential and protected by law to remain concealed from anyone other than myself or the government. That file cannot be used in this courtroom I'm afraid," I shouted as I entered the room, smiling before walking over to Andrew's table and taking a seat beside him.  
  
"Who might you be miss?" asked the judge after all the whispers died down, he was curious as to why I had cause such a commotion.  
  
"Serena Moon, mother of the child in question," I stated calmly.  
  
"Well Ms. Moon, would you kindly explain to me why you files are confidential?" the judge asked while pointing at Darien's table.  
  
"A few years ago, after my son was born, I went to court and had his documents sealed so that no one would try to dig up any information on him. It was to protect my reputation from being slandered by the press since I am a well know designer," I answered thoroughly.  
  
"Do you have proof of this?" the judge once again questioned me.  
  
"Yes, these are my court documents," I replied, handing a folder to the officer that had approached my table.  
  
"Objection! That shouldn't be upheld in this case. How else will we find out this child's background information?" yelled Darien's lawyer suddenly, receiving a glare from me.  
  
"Actually, according to these papers, by law I have to keep that information confidential. What I am allowed to do though, is ask you to help me out so we can conclude this case, Ms. Moon," replied the judge after glancing at the paperwork.  
  
"Of course, my son's father's name is stated in those documents, so you can let the plaintiff know where he stands in this case," I pointed out as everyone looked on in shock. No one had said a word after I arrived and it was beginning to feel unnerving.  
  
"Right, then I order this case dismissed to lack of argument from plaintiff. I'm sorry Mr. Shields, but it seems that you have no case here, considering the facts, which clearly shows that you are not this child's biological father," the judge informed everyone as I smirked.  
  
"If I'm not, then who the hell is?!" yelled Darien angrily.  
  
"Control yourself or I'll have you thrown in jail for contempt!" ordered the judge, shocked at Darien's outburst since he had remained silent the entire time. "Besides, that information is private, so I can't tell you nor anyone else!" he added before getting up to leave.  
  
"Oh my god, Sere! Thank god you got here just in time!" cried mina happily.  
  
"I know, I'm so sorry I left you all," I said, scooping Keith into my arms and holding him tightly. "Sorry baby, Mama is here now," I whispered into his ears and kissed his head as Darien and his lawyers stormed by quickly.  
  
"Where were you Sere?' asked Andrew quietly. With that said, I felt bad for causing so much trouble for everyone. They all looked so exhausted, especially Andrew and Jason. Their smiles didn't even reach their eyes anymore. What made me feel worse was the hurt look in Andrew's eyes. I had left him without a word after things happened.  
  
"We'll talk later," I mouthed at him quickly. "Sorry everyone, I was in Osaka resting and relaxing my mind," I answered quietly. We started walking out of the courthouse as I told them of my short vacation. We headed back to my parents' house to eat and talk about things. After I put Keith to bed, the conversations continued on for another hour or so.  
  
"That's when I found out about the case and headed up there," I finished.  
  
"I'm just glad you're home," said my mom happily, holding onto my hand tightly.  
  
"I knew you'd come to your senses sooner or later," my dad added, wrapping a free arm around my shoulder.  
  
"We all are," said Jason, smiling at me. I couldn't even look him in the eye. Not after what I put him through after I left. I felt awful for making him be my messenger.  
  
"Well, it's getting late. We should leave so you can rest," suggested Lita, seeing how uneasy I felt after Jason spoke. She got up and hugged me before everyone followed in her footsteps and got up slowly.  
  
"I'll call you so we can discuss Keith's lab work okay?" Amy said while slipping into her coat and heels. She hugged me briefly before turning to open the door.  
  
"Yeah, night everyone," I replied quietly. Mina hugged me tightly before following the girls outside and leaving. I guess she didn't say anything because she knew I would call her to talk about things once I was ready.  
  
"I'll see you back at the hotel. I went ahead and got you a new room beside mine," Jason interrupted my thoughts. Before I could respond, he placed a kiss on my head and left quickly. My parents went upstairs to bed after seeing only Andrew and I left in the house, I guess they knew we had to talk so gave up some privacy. I slowly turned to face Andrew, still unsure of what to say to him.  
  
"So... Where do I start?" I said, trying to find the right words to say to him.  
  
"How about, I missed you?" suggested Andrew, pulling me into his arms and kissing me passionately. When we parted, I could see tears running down his face.  
  
"Oh Andy! I'm so sorry," I cried, burying my face in his shirt as he held me.  
  
"Why didn't you at least call me?" he asked, shaking as his cries racked his body.  
  
"I was just so upset that I needed to get away. Everything was just too much for me to handle," I answered honestly.  
  
"So it wasn't me?" Andrew questioned, worry filling his beautiful hazel eyes.  
  
"Of course not!" I responded with a laugh, hugging him even tighter than before. "I love you silly, why would I run away from you?" I asked curiously.  
  
"I don't know, I just assumed we were moving too fast for you to handle," stuttered Andrew, looking down at his feet in embarrassment.  
  
"No, it was Darien and Raye. But I guess even running away couldn't keep me from meeting them," I said, sighing dejectedly.  
  
Slowly the conversation headed towards recent events I had missed out on while I was gone. To my astonishment, I learned that Jason was becoming quite attached to Mina! It was unbelievable to my very ears. I was so thrilled that I almost knocked over Andrew while jumping up and down.   
  
After we finished talking, Andrew took me back to his place, where I spent the night. He and I knew it was far too late to head over to the hotel, 1) because I didn't have a key and felt odd disturbing the clerks at such an hour, and 2) because I really wanted to be in his arms for the time being.   
  
I'm not saying that we were intimate with one another, but it was the most amazing nigh I've ever had in my entire life. We stayed up talking to one another while gazing at the beautiful stars. He was so gentle with me that it seemed like my first real encounter with love all over again. None of the times I had shared with Darien could even compare to the way Andrew made me feel. We had candles lit, slow music playing in the background, and a sky full of stars shining down on us while we stared into each other's eyes. I engraved each and every tender caress into my heart as the night wore on and slowly faded away.  
  
~*AN*~  
  
All right, looks like I finally finished this chapter. It only took four times writing and re-writing! Hope everyone liked it! Remember, please read and review!! 


	17. Secrets Revealed

~*AN*~  
  
I haven't written in a while because I've been distracted by my current hobby, which turns out to be designing gowns. Not in a professional manner of course, I just doodled on my sketchpad and all of a sudden I got hooked. They are based on the designs from my story, which are actually my own creations! Anyway, hope this chapter gets your approval!  
  
~*Chapter XVII: Secrets Revealed*~  
  
I woke up lying next to something extremely warm and soft, which alarmed me to no end. Then out of nowhere, an arm drapes over me, freaking the crap out of me. Where was I? This didn't look like my room. Looking around, I noticed my clothes thrown about the room messily and that is when it dawned on me. I was in Andrew's bedroom! Turning around, I saw Andrew smile and snuggle closer to me. It was just too darling, so I slowly inched out of his embrace and ran for his closet, surely there would be a camera somewhere.  
  
"Aha!" I cried grabbing the camera and making sure there was film loaded in it before sprinting back out to the bed. 'Where did he go?' I wondered, looking around the room. He wasn't lying in the bed where I had left him.  
  
"Looking for someone?" asked Andrew from behind me. I screamed upon hearing his voice and threw the camera into the air before bolting forwards. Andrew only laughed and caught the camera with his free hand, the other holding a cup of coffee.  
  
"You scared me!" I pouted, crossing my arms as I sat back on the bed.  
  
"At least I wasn't sneaking up on you on purpose," Andrew said back, smiling as he jumped on me. "What were you up to anyway?" he asked, arms wrapping around my waist as he kissed my shoulders, sending shivers down my spine.  
  
"Well, you looked so cute lying there that I couldn't give up on the opportunity to snap a picture to keep for memory sake," I answered sheepishly.  
  
"Oh really now?" asked Andrew, eyeing me suspiciously.  
  
"Honest!" I defended myself before he could assume anything. "Why else would I have a camera?" I asked, waving the camera in his face.  
  
"To take humiliating pictures of me and black mail me with them later?" laughed Andrew as I punched him and turned away. "Sorry Sere, you know I'm just teasing, but were you seriously going to take a picture of my in my sleep?" he asked, pulling me into his lap.  
  
"Yes, I was! After all, I need photos for my album," I told him, drawing circles on his chest. I let my hand go and suddenly found myself playing with the strap of his boxers. 'Oh my god!' I squirmed before letting go quickly, causing it to snap back and pop him.  
  
"Okay, if you wanted to get rough, you couldn't warned me," Andrew groaned, rubbing his stomach. I poked him in the side and kissed him after mouthing a quick sorry. "Anyway, we should get dressed, I'll bet Keith is wondering where you are right about now," said Andrew, snapping me back to reality.  
  
"You're probably right, I'll go change and we can head over to my parent's house," I answered, pulling myself out of his embrace and running to the bathroom before he could catch me. As I turned on the shower, I could hear him bang on the door and yell for me to not take long since he too had to shower. I smiled and hopped into the warm shower and quickly cleaned myself. I always thought it was odd that he was so rich, yet his house only had one bathroom, but I guess that is because he's a bachelor.  
  
~Tsukino House~  
  
"Grandma, where's mama?" asked Keith, walking around the house.  
  
"Honey, she's not here yet, but I'm sure she'll be here shortly," answered Ilene, smiling at the little boy. "Here, why don't you have breakfast while we wait for her?" she suggested him persuasively.  
  
"Sweetie, Serena is here!" called out Ken from the hallway. Keith quickly dropped his fork and ran for the front door.  
  
"Mama!" cried Keith, running into my open arms as I scooped him up and kissed his forehead. "I woke up this morning and you were gone, so I thought it was a dream!" said my son in a scared tone. I couldn't help but laugh and squeeze him even tighter.  
  
"No baby, it wasn't a dream," I told him, setting him back on his feet.  
  
"Hey kiddo!" greeted Andrew, rubbing Keith's hair with a smile.  
  
"Hi Andrew!" Keith replied, tugging on Andrew's hand as I walked into the kitchen to greet my mother. I was touched knowing that the bond Andrew shared with my son was so strong that it was almost hard not to mistake them for father and son.  
  
"Morning mom," I whispered and hugged my mom tightly.  
  
"Sere have you seen this morning's newspaper?" asked Jason, walking briskly into the room. It totally caught me off guard that I stumbled backwards and almost tripped!  
  
"How'd you get here so fast?" I asked, confused.  
  
"I just got here, but that's beside the point. Look!" answered Jason, throwing the stack of paper onto the table with a loud thud. To my utter shock, there on the front page of the newspaper in bold letters were the words "Keith Moon or Keith Forbes?" written across the headline. When I saw that, my only reaction was simply to shut down, which I did as I fell to the floor in a dead faint.  
  
"Sere!" everyone cried in unison. Jason, who was closest, jumped forward and caught me in his arms. Quickly, he hurried into the living room and laid me down on an empty couch before stepping back to give me some air.  
  
"Oh god," I mumbled, rolling onto my stomach and rubbing my head in pain. How could this have happened? I thought this whole ordeal was over with? How the hell did someone get into my personal files?  
  
"Sere, are you okay?" Andrew asked worriedly. Not only was he concerned but also completely clueless as to why I had fainted.  
  
"Keith Forbes? Isn't that your last name Andrew?" I heard my son ask to my dismay as he entered the living room with the paper in his hands.  
  
"Yes, why Keith?" asked Andrew, wondering what the heck was going on.  
  
"Look," Keith answered, handing him the paper and pointing to the title. "What the..." I heard Andrew mumble and his eyes skimmed through the story, dilating when realization hit him full force. "Oh my god..." was all Andrew said as he dropped the paper and looked at me.  
  
"I'm so sorry," I managed to say, turning away from everyone and crying. My secret was out now, and everyone that didn't need to know it, already did. What made it worse was that Andrew was practically the last person to find out. "Andrew, I..." I started saying as I turned around to face him, only to find him standing by the hallway.  
  
"I... I have to go," was all Andrew said before opening the door and slamming it shut.  
  
"Oh god, what have I done?" I cried harder as my mom came and wrapped her arms around me. 'Andrew, please forgive me,' I prayed, letting the tears flow freely now.  
  
~Raye~  
  
"This is just great," laughed Raye wickedly. She looked at the paper in her hands and laughed even harder. 'Now her world will come crumbling down," she thought evilly. She reached for her phone and dialed a number, waiting casually for it to connect.  
  
"Hello?" answered the voice tiredly.  
  
"Darien, it's me Raye. Have you read this morning's newspaper?" she asked him coolly.  
  
"No, why. Something interesting you wanted to point out?" he asked grumpily.  
  
"Yes, why don't you check the front page, I assure you that you'll love it," she replied, hanging up before he could respond.  
  
"Peachy, now he'll finally get over that stupid obsession with her and move on to a more worthy woman," whispered Raye, before dialing another number. "Hello, Mr. Livingston? Yes, this is Raye. I just wanted to thank you for a job well done," said Raye, laughing as she spoke. The man on the other end thanked her before bidding her good bye. "No, thank you. Really, you don't know how much I appreciate all your help," she said wickedly.  
  
~Darien~  
  
"What the hell was that woman thinking, waking me at such a damn hour to say something so redundant?" muttered Darien, walking out to his kitchen to grab the morning newspaper. With that, he picked up his coffee mug and sipped on it while he scanned the paper. Suddenly, he started coughing horribly as his coffee got caught in his throat. "What in the name of god?!" he cried, slamming his coffee mug down before storming to his room to dress and head out of his home quickly. "I'll kill him, that bastard!" he seethed, slamming the door to his car harshly and speeding off. 'How could he do this to me, I thought he was my friend,' Darien thought in pure rage and he sped to Andrew's home.  
  
~Andrew~  
  
"Keith is my son? I slept with Serena all those years ago?" Andrew kept repeating the same two lines over and over as he walked through the streets of Tokyo.   
  
He couldn't believe his very eyes, there on the newspaper was evidence that he was the man who fathered Keith. After all these years of wondering who Keith's father was and wishing it was him, he finally found out that it was him all along! 'Why didn't she tell me? Did she not think about how I would feel?' thought Andrew sadly, his eyes not really looking where they were going. When he finally stopped, he looked up and saw that he had walked to the park. Taking a seat at one of the benches, Andrew looked around and saw the various couples and families enjoying the beautiful day that it was.  
  
"Oh Sere, why couldn't you have told me back then. We could've been a wonderful family, just like I had always dreamed of us being," mumbled Andrew, his tears on the verge of spilling. He buried his head into his palm and sat there, listening to the sound of the people around him as he thought about everything.  
  
~Tsukino House~  
  
"Serena, why didn't you tell him?" my mother asked me, rubbing my back as I sobbed in her arms. I couldn't believe that everything was happening to me, first I almost lose my son, now the man that I love.  
  
"I couldn't mom, I didn't want to ruin his life!" I cried, getting up and running out of the house away from everyone and all the questions. I didn't know what to do anymore, it seemed as if everything I had worked so hard for was finally falling apart. My tears blurred my vision and my feet didn't want to stop, because then I would just have to face my reality all over again. "Why me?! Why me damn it?!" I yelled angrily, falling to my knees in the middle of the street. I didn't care if people were stopping and looking at me oddly, nothing mattered anymore. Wiping my tears, I slowly pulled myself up and headed over in the direction of the park. It was the one quiet place where I could go to escape all my worries.  
  
~Park~  
  
"I'm so sorry Andrew," I said, sniffling as I sat down with a sigh. I didn't know what else to do so I just sat there crying to myself. 'What am I going to do now? I can't go back there and face him or anyone else anymore," I thought to myself. Then I realized that there was only one answer to al of my problems and that was to leave it all behind once again. After sitting there for another half hour, I finally decided to head back home so I could pack up and go home, to the only home I've had ever since that fateful day five years ago. "I hope you can one day learn to forgive me Andrew, but until then, good bye..." I whispered to the air as I left the park not noticing anyone else but myself.  
  
Little did I know, Andrew was sitting at a bench nearby the exit I had taken to leave and had heard my last words. After I had long disappeared, Andrew just sat there quietly, wondering why I had said good-bye to him. "There isn't much I can do here in this state, might as well go home too," muttered Andrew, loosening his tie and heading back to his place. "Maybe tomorrow I can go over and talk to Sere about everything, we can get everything out in the open and discuss what we'll do now that things have changed," he thought while walking along the sidewalk. Just then a black Porsche pulled up and someone stormed out, rushing at him full throttle and slammed into him roughly.  
  
"How could you Andrew?! How could you do this to me?!" yelled Darien angrily. "She was my girlfriend! The women I loved more than anything, how could you sleep with her behind my back?!" he added furiously as his fist came flying at Andrew's face.  
  
"What the fuck is you problem?" asked Andrew as he fell to the ground and clutched his jaw. He looked up and saw Darien's eyes, full of rage.  
  
"What's my problem? You knocked up my girlfriend and ruined my life you asshole!" accused Darien, seething with rage as he stood there in front of Andrew.  
  
"Darien, I didn't even know until today! I'm going through a lot in my life right now all right, I don't have time to put up with your shit. Besides, it's not like you gave a fuck, you freaking tow timed her with Raye you sick bastard," replied Andrew, wiping the blood away from his lip.  
  
"I didn't cheat on Serena damn it, it was Raye!" Darien defended himself. "It doesn't matter anyway, she left me after you slept with her! You're my best friend too! How could you do this to me?" asked Darien, beginning to wonder how in the world this even happened.  
  
"I don't know Darien, I have no idea when it even happened. As far as my knowledge, we never even slept together until last night! And I was your best friend, not anymore. I don't associate with bastards who cheat on their loved ones," answered Andrew.  
  
"Last night? You slept with her again?!" yelled Darien, lunging at Andrew once more.  
  
"Oh shove it asshole, it's not like you're still with her stupid," retorted Andrew, rolling his eyes. "Besides, I love Sere, more than you ever did. I was even going to ask her to marry me, but now that some asshole put our business on the news, I don't know what's going to happen anymore," he added, sighing as he looked up at the sky, which was slowly getting darker.  
  
"You love her?" asked Darien, not believing his ears. His best friend and the woman who was his only family and love, the news was all too overwhelming for him that he had to grab something to lean against. "I can't believe this, my world as I know it is slowly falling apart and going crazy," he mumbled before walking away from Andrew. He got back into his car and drove away without even saying a word to Andrew or even good-bye.  
  
"I'm sorry Darien, I really am. I never thought things would turn out this way for all of us," whispered Andrew, turning back and heading towards his home.  
  
~Sere~  
  
"Mama, you're home!" cried my little boy as I entered my parent's house. I smiled and picked him up, kissing his forehead before carrying him into the kitchen where he had come from.  
  
"Hi mom, dad," I greeted my parents with a faint smile before taking a seat. "I have something I need to talk to you both about," I said calmly.  
  
"Sure sweetheart, let's talk," replied my mother in her soothing voice as she and my dad sat down across from me at the dinner table.  
  
"Baby, why don't you go wash up and I'll come tuck you in later okay?" I asked Keith, pushing him in the direction of the stairs.  
  
"Okay, but you have to read me a story too!" answered my precious baby.  
  
"So Serena, what did you want to discuss with us about?" asked my dad in a more serious tone.  
  
"I'm leaving tomorrow morning with Keith. Let me finish before you say anything okay? There is just too much happening here for us to stay, I can't face the public eye or put Keith through all the fuss. It's best if we just leave so that the press won't bother any of us," I told my parents.  
  
"Why must you always leave when there is a problem sweetheart?" asked my mother sadly.  
  
"Mom, it's not that simple anymore. I can't face Andrew or put Keith through the agony of being rejected," I replied on the brink of breaking down in tears.  
  
"How will you know if you leave before he can respond to the sudden changes?" asked my dad quietly. My family had known Andrew's family for as long as I can remember, so of course he was quick to defend his "second" son. "Besides, I don't' want my little girl being so far away from me again," he added quietly. I smiled, knowing that even though I was a mature woman and mother now, he would always view me as his little girl.  
  
"Dad, I'll be back, trust me. I just need some time for all the public attention to die down. When that time comes, Keith and I will be back here to stay with you. I want for Keith to have grandparents in his life just like any other normal kid out there, I just don't want the whole world knowing about his background and chase after him with questions that he won't have answers to," I answered truthfully.  
  
"We understand sweetheart, just promise us that you won't stay away too long. We don't want Keith to become estranged to us again," replied my mom, quietly sniffling.  
  
"I know mom, thanks for understanding my situation. I promise we'll call often and be back before you know it," was my reply. I wasn't even sure when I'd come back, I just knew I had to leave this place before things got any worse.  
  
"Okay, it's late, you should go up and tuck Keith in and make those calls to set everything up before it gets any later," said my dad, getting up to pour himself a cup of coffee.  
  
"I already called before I got home. Jason is going to be leaving with me tomorrow, but he's coming back to work at the new company while I'm back in New York," I told my parents before heading upstairs. "Keith, are you ready for bed honey?" I called out, slowly entering his room.  
  
"Yup, all set mama. Look, I even picked out my favorite story!" giggled my son as he sat up in his bed and held up the book for me.  
  
"Great, let's get started then!" I replied in a cheerful voice. My eyes began to tear up slightly as I looked at my son and saw so much of Andrew in him. I read him his story and we snuggled close to one another as the story carried on.  
  
"Mama, why did you and Andrew run out this morning?" asked my son when I had finished the story and shut the book. It caught me off guard that I dropped the book on the floor when I jolted back to reality. The book hit the floor with a loud thud and shook me out of the state of shock.  
  
"Well, it's a long story honey. I'll tell you someday baby. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that we're going home for a little while tomorrow morning!" I answered my son and told him the news.  
  
"Why? I like it here with everyone. You're a lot happier too," was my son's response to the news. I know he was very confused, and truth be told, I was so much more happier here than back home.  
  
"It's for business baby, and just for a short time," I told him quietly. "I know you don't like it, but I don't want to be apart from you again, so bear with me for a little while okay baby?" I compromised with my son. "We stay until my business is done and you can have anything you want when we get back here okay?" I told him, hoping he'd take the bribe so I wouldn't have any problems.  
  
"Okay," whispered Keith quietly. "But you have to promise that you'll try to hurry up so we can come back here as soon as possible," me son said, trying to compromise with me in return, which only made me laugh.  
  
"You're turning into Jason!" I said, holding my stomach as the laughter continued. We both laughed and talked for a little bit before Keith fell asleep. I tucked him in and packed his bags before heading to my own room and packing my own belongings.  
  
~Next Morning~  
  
"Good morning Mrs. Tsukino," greeted Jason as he stepped into the house and waited for Sere and Keith by the front door. Suddenly he saw a bag come tumbling down the staircase and someone yelp in pain. "Need help Sere?" he asked, chuckling as he saw me run frantically down stairs to check on my suitcase which was sitting by Jason's foot by then.  
  
"Thanks," I replied, smiling at my own clumsiness. "Can you help me get Keith's bag upstairs? I need to go finish getting dressed," I asked Jason, running back upstairs into my room and slamming the door shut. I hurriedly put on some make-up and slipped into a crème colored suit before grabbing my purse and heading back down.  
  
"Finished baby?" I asked my son who was eating breakfast with my parents at the moment.  
  
"Yeah," Keith replied, wiping his face and running over to hug my parents quickly before we had to leave. "I'll miss you," he whispered to them as a tear slid down his cheeks.  
  
"We'll see you soon Keith," replied my mom, smiling brightly at him as she wiped his tear away.  
  
"Yeah, grandma and I will wait for you to come back so we can take you to the kimono festival!" said my dad, ruffling his hair and patting his head.  
  
"Okay!" cheered Keith happily as I took his hand and we headed out to Jason's car.  
  
"Bye mom, bye dad! I'll call you when we get there!" I called out after hugging them and stepping into the car. Jason put Keith into his car seat and we took off towards the airport.  
  
"You sure you don't want to call Andrew first?" asked Jason as we started heading towards the gate where the plane was waiting for us. There was still half an hour left before our flight was going to depart, so I guess he was trying to do some last minute persuading.  
  
"No, he needs his time to think things through," I replied quietly, not wanting to talk about Andrew because it would only make me cry and I didn't want to worry Keith at the moment.  
  
~Andrew~  
  
"I should head over to the Tsukino's house to talk to Sere, she's probably up by now," said Andrew, slipping his blazer on and finishing off his coffee before heading out to the garage. He drove over to the Tsukino's house but stopped by a local floral shop to pick up a bouquet of roses before he neared their house. "Hopefully she won't be too upset about me running out on her yesterday," prayed Andrew as he got out and straightened his tie. Walking up to the door, he rang the bell and took a deep breath before waiting for someone to open it.  
  
"Oh, hello Andrew," greeted Ilene, looking somewhat shocked to see him.  
  
"Morning Mrs. Tsukino, I hope I didn't wake you," replied Andrew, stepping inside after Ilene opened the door and led him inside.  
  
"No, not at all, we've been awake for hours now," answered Ilene.  
  
"Really? Wow, so is Sere and Keith up too?" asked Andrew, a little shocked to hear that Serena's parents woke up so early.  
  
"Well, they woke up before we did actually," began Ilene, only to be interrupted by Andrew.  
  
"Great, now I can apologize to her and we can talk," said Andrew, sighing in relief.  
  
"Actually, they left just twenty minutes ago," answered Ilene sadly.  
  
"Left? Did the go somewhere?" asked Andrew, not liking the sound of things. He saw the sad look in Ilene's eyes and it worried him.  
  
"They went home," answered Ken as he entered the living room. "Hello Andrew," he said.  
  
"Morning Mr. Tsukino," replied Andrew a little confused. "What do you mean they went home?" he asked them, hoping to get an answer.  
  
"New York," whispered Ilene, tearing up as she told Andrew the news.  
  
"No," mumbled Andrew as the bouquet slipped from his hands and fell to the floor. "I need to go," he whispered, quickly getting up and running out the door towards his car. He sped off in the direction of the airport, determined to catch up with Sere.  
  
"Poor boy, he's been through so much these past two days, now he's about to lose his son before he'll even get to acknowledge the fact," said Ken, shaking his head as he comforted his wife.  
  
~Airport~  
  
"Flight 1904 to New York, now boarding at gate 21. All passengers please head to gate 21, boarding has already begun. Flight 1904 to New York departs in ten minutes." Announced the speakers throughout the airport as I sat there with Jason and Keith on either side of me. I looked around and took in the sight one last time before getting up and walking into the gate.  
  
"Welcome aboard," greeted the stewardess as Jason handed her our tickets. I grabbed Keith's hand and we headed into the plane toward our seats.  
  
"Good bye Andrew," I whispered as we buckled our seats and prepared for departure.  
  
~Andrew~  
  
"Please let her still be there," Andrew prayed as he ran through the terminals toward the information booth. "What gate is the plane for New York at?" he asked quickly.  
  
"Gate 21 sir, but they've already boarded and are pulling out soon," answered the clerk.  
  
"Thanks," said Andrew, running as fast as his feet could towards the gate. When he reached there, the plane had already backed out from the gate and was on its way down the runway to take off. "No," said Andrew, not believing that he missed them by a minute. "Fuck!" he cried, slamming his fist into a pole, startling a few bystanders. There was no way he could catch up with Sere now, he couldn't even tell her he was sorry and that he wanted to be a family with her and Keith.  
  
"Excuse me sir, did you miss the flight?" asked a flight attendant.  
  
"Yeah," answered Andrew quietly.  
  
"Well, you can take the next available flight the New York in two hours," she informed him.  
  
"I don't know," Andrew muttered, not really caring what she said anymore. Then it hit him, if he took the next flight out, he could go find Sere and make her talk to him! "You know what miss, why don't you book that flight for me," he turned back and told the flight attendant.  
  
~AN~  
  
So, what's going to happen? I wonder. 


	18. Finally Found

AN

Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated, but one thing has led to another and my updates just got pushed back. But, since the spring semester has finally ended, I can finally get started with updating and possibly finishing this story. I hope you all enjoy the new chapters.

Chapter XVIII: Finally Found

Sitting there in my room as I tried recklessly to unpack my belongings, I finally realized that everything I've been trying to lock away had never truly been locked away after away. So with a sigh, I gave up trying not to think about him. It's been over a year since I left Japan for the second time around, and almost half a year since I moved into my still new home. I guess I still like to think of it as new because I haven't really had any time to actually move all of my belongings into the house. Anyway, back to what I was talking about.

After getting back to New York City, I requested to be transferred to another branch located in Cherry Hill since it was the next closest branch. I also transferred Keith to a new school and cut off all ties with the media so there would be no disturbances in his education. I remember the day we got off the plane, there were reporters everywhere asking questions left and right and snapping pictures of Keith for the rest of society to read about. Sometimes I wish people would mind their own business and worry about their own damned lives instead of mine. I felt so guilty for bringing this all upon my son so I had to get him out of the limelight. We moved into a tiny house just outside of the city to have more privacy.

I also got word that after I left Japan, Andrew had come to America in search of me and Keith, so that was one of the main reasons why I had chosen to be relocated. And I guess I couldn't handle the thought of a confrontation between the two of us after everything that has happened. I didn't want him to take responsibility for something when he didn't truly know what he wanted out of life just yet. Just because he fathered my child, that doesn't mean that he has to give up his way of life because he thinks he's obligated to take care of us. That's the last thing I'd ever ask him to do. So here I am, wallowing in my own misery.

"Mama, I'm home!" I heard my baby call to me as the sound of the front door echoed throughout the hallways and snapped me back to reality. Keith was now in the second grade and had just started attending a different private school after we moved.

"I'll be right there baby," I called back, putting away the rest of my things before rushing out to meet him. Kissing his forehead, I led him over to the kitchen where a light snack was waiting for him. "How was school?" I asked setting his backpack aside so he could sit down.

"It was fun, but I still miss my old school," answer Keith taking a big bite out of the turkey sandwich I had made for him. I smiled sadly, knowing that I was to blame for his current state of sadness. I guess it was hard for him to transfer to a new school and make new friends so it crushed my heart to hear that he was still trying to fit into his new school.

"I know honey, but it'll get better. I promise," I replied, squeezing his hand lightly as I went to get him a glass of juice. "Hey, I know! How about we go shopping today?!" I suggested enthusiastically.

"Really?!" was his reply. It always brought a smile to my face whenever he got excited about anything, even if it was something small. I guess that's what being a mother is all about, making all the little things seem so big.

"Yeah, we'll get you whatever you want from the toy store and even stop by the book store on the way home. How about it?" I asked him, knowing he would say yes to anything right about now.

"Yeah!" shouted Keith, hopping off the chair. He bounded off towards his new room and got changed. I laughed lightly at his still very childish antics, which I was very grateful for, being that he was only 6 years old. I cleaned up the kitchen and headed upstairs to change into something more comfortable. Cleaning all day had worn me down so I needed to freshen up a bit.

"Okay mama, all set! Let's go!" said Keith with so much vigor in his tone. I hurried downstairs and slipped into my sandals and we both jumped into my brand new red Audi TT and sped off towards town.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Dr. Cunningham called today, she said that Toki is all set to come home with us," I told my son as we pulled into the Mall's parking lot.

"Really?!" asked my son, thrilled to hear the news. I bought Toki as a birthday gift to Keith just recently, and he's a Toy . Last week he got sick so we sent him into the clinic to get checked up.

"Yeah, so after we finish shopping, we'll go get some ice cream them stop by and pick him up okay?" I told my son, grabbing his hands as we entered the mall happily. I always loved to go shopping whenever I felt down, so I knew a little shopping spree would surely clear my mind of Andrew for the time being.

Andrew

"It's been so long since I've been here, I wonder how the business is keeping up?" thought Andrew as he walked around the town square. After sighing, he decided to sit down for a break. The last bit of news he got from Jason was that Sere had moved away from New York City to a less busy city. As much as he knew Sere, he was positive she would have chosen to move to Cherry Grove, because ever since she was young she was always drawn to things with cute names or appearances. Smiling at the thought of her beautiful face, Andrew got up and decided to walk around a little more.

"Excuse me sir," said an elderly lady as she bumped into him.

"No, pardon me madam," replied Andrew courteously as he helped her pick up the papers she had dropped.

"My, aren't you a polite young man," said the lady with a smile. She adjusted her glasses and took a closer look at him. "I've never seen you around before, are you new here?" she asked, a little curious.

"I guess this town is more close knit than I thought," laughed Andrew as he handed the lady back her briefcase. "My name is Andrew Forbes and I'm in town in business, actually I'm looking for my fiancée" he answered quickly.

"My name is Katherine Cunningham. And did you say fiancée? Well isn't that sweet. What is her name? Maybe I can help you," inquired the lady nicely.

"Serena Moon, but she likes to go by Sere," said Andrew with a smile.

"Ms. Moon? She has a fiancée?" asked Katherine a bit shocked.

"It's a long story, but do you know where I can find her?" Andrew said saving himself from the long explanation.

"Well, she's going to pick up her pet dog from my clinic in an hour. If you want, you can come with me and save yourself the trouble of looking for her," suggested Mrs. Cunningham.

"Really? That would be great! Thank you so much!" said Andrew, rejoicing at the thought of seeing his Sere again after all this time. They headed over to her clinic and talked a little on their way over. 'I'll finally get the chance to explain everything before you can run away again,' thought Andrew happily as he continued following Mrs. Cunningham.

Sere

"Okay, so do we have everything?" I asked, making sure we didn't forget anything because I hated driving to town for shopping since it was a good twenty minute drive to and back each time. "Now all we have to do is to stop by and pick up Toki so we can get home before the ice cream melts," I said after putting all the shopping bags into the trunk.

"Really?!" Keith asks excitedly. I nodded and he ran to hug me while jumping around. It brought a smile to my face that something so small could make my son so happy. "Yes!" he shouted enthusiastically skipping around.

"Okay sweetie, get in and buckle up for mommy," I called out to him as I finished shutting the trunk. He happily obliged and hopped into the passenger seat, buckled his seat belt and waited patiently for me to get in.

"Hurry up mama!" I heard my son call out after only a few seconds of sitting patiently. Shaking my head, I laughed and slowed down even more just to agitate him. "Mama!" he cried, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Okay, sorry sheesh!" I laughed and hurried into the driver's seat. Started the engine and heard it purr quietly before reverse and taking off towards the vet's office. "So are you excited that Toki will be coming home with us today?" I asked my son, knowing full well that he was more than overjoyed to know his little puppy would be home with him again.

Vet's Office

"Well, here we are," announced Katherine, pointing at the door. Andrew quickly rushed over and opened the door for her. "Thank you," she said before walking in and slipping out of her jacket and into her lab coat.

"Back so soon Mrs. Cunningham?" asked one of the clerks at the front desk.

"Yeah, I ran into a friend of Ms. Moon's so I decided to come back early and get ready to surprise her," answered Katherine with a smile.

"Friend?" asked the clerk curiously.

"Oh yes, where are my manners. This is Andrew Forbes, Ms. Moon's fiancée," Katherine introduced the two people to one another.

"Hello, nice to meet you miss," replied Andrew quietly.

"Andrew, this is my assistant Kaitlyn," Katherine added after Andrew had greeted her with a quick hello.

"Hi, welcome to our office, it's a pleasure to meet you," Kaitlyn greeted courteously with a bright smile.

"Anyway, why don't you have a seat here while I go in and check upon little Toki for Keith," said Mrs. Cunningham as she walked into the back with Kaitlyn following shortly behind her. Andrew took a seat and looked around the office, it was quaint little clinic located across the street from the mall and there were beautiful photos of pets all around.

"Are you Mr. Forbes?" asked a young woman that had come out form the door that Mrs. Cunningham had just entered.

"Yes," answered Andrew feeling a little awkward.

"Dr. Cunningham asked me to walk you to one of the office rooms to wait in since Ms. Moon just called and is on her way over," said the assistant cheerfully.

"Oh, thank you," replied Andrew.

"Right this way sir," she said directing Andrew to follow her into a little room. After Andrew took a seat in on of the chairs near the window, she smiled and quietly shut the door behind her when she left.

'What am I going to do? How is she going to react?' thought Andrew nervously as he struggled to adjust his clothes. He looked around in search of a mirror to double check his appearances but to no avail.

"Okay Andrew, she's outside so if you don't want her to run out once she gets in here, you better hide behind something," suggested Katherine as she put Toki down into a little caged area so he could play and pulled out some paperwork.

"Thanks," whispered Andrew as he got and walked behind a little area with a white curtain drawn.

Sere

"Okay Ms. Moon, Dr. Cunningham can see you now," announced on of the clerks outside.

"Thanks for taking care of Toki for me doc," I greeted the lovable vet.

"Hi Dr. Cunningham!" greeted Keith happily.

"Why hello, how are you two doing?" asked Katherine, smiling as Keith ran up and hugged her tightly.

"We're great!" Keith answered for the both of us quickly after spotting Toki in the cage. "Is he all better now?" he asked reaching down for the puppy.

"He's great, there's just one little problem I need your mommy to deal with. Do you want to take Toki out and give him some treats while we talk?" asked Dr. Cunningham with a smile.

"Sure!" Keith agreed cheerfully. He held Toki close to his chest and ran out to the front desk where the girls were waiting for him with treats. After the door was shut, I turned and gave the lady a confused look.

"I know you're probably wondering what I'm talking about but hear me out," Dr. Cunningham started to explain to me. "You'll see just as soon as I step out real quick," she said reaching for the doorknob.

"What? Wait, where are you going?" I asked, getting up to follow her out.

"No, you sit here and wait for it to come to you," Dr. Cunningham instructed me as she left the room leaving me all alone.

"What on earth is going on?!" I almost yelled from the frustration. Just then I heard the curtain behind me ruffle. "Oh my god, am I hearing things now?" I started talking to myself out loud. Turning I looked around wearily hoping that it I was just hearing things and not some feces infected rat. So there I am looking at the curtain and I notice a pair of shoes just lying there. 'What the hell,' I think to myself, creeping slowly to the curtain. I pull back the curtain and send a kick flying at the person who was hiding behind the curtains, sending the culprit to the floor.

"Oomph" I heard a man cry before passing out form the pain and falling to the ground with a huge thud. I looked down ready to pound the crap out of the perpetrator but stopped after I noticed a shiny silver bracelet on the man's wrist. It looked just like a bracelet I had once bought as a birthday gift to Andrew. Then I looked up to see blonde hair, and it hit me, there on the floor before me was the man I had been running from for the last year and a half.

"Andy?" I thought out loud, not believing that I knocked him out. "Omg, Andy!" I cried, rushing to his side and trying to wake him. I picked his head up and propped it on my lap as I caressed his cheeks. "Oh Andy, I'm so sorry," I whispered, tears coming to my eyes and spilling over, falling onto his face.

"No, I'm sorry," Andrew whispered back, grabbing hold of my hands, making me jump back and dropping him to the ground once more.

"Oh my god, don't scare me like that!" I screamed, running to the door.

"No wait Sere!" Andrew called out running after me as I made a run for the exit of the office, grabbing Keith and the dog as I left in tears.

"Mama, what's going on? Why is Andrew here?" Keith asked, trying to keep up with me as I ran like hell to my car. I quickly put him in his seat and told him to buckle up before running to the driver's side and getting in.

"Sere, wait!" Andrew called out, running out from the vet's office. Seeing that, I quickly shut the door and tried to get the key into the ignition.

"Mama, wait!" Keith yelled at me, seeing Andrew run after us.

"Baby quit yelling, we need to get home," I told my son, nervously trying to get the right key into the ignition. My hands were shaking so much that I dropped the keys so I reached down to search for them quickly, but right when I found them I looked up and was met face to face with Andrew. "Oh god!" I screamed, tears still pouring down my face as I jumped over to my son's seat and unbuckled him. Grabbing him, I threw open the door and ran out into the open road. "Baby, run back to Dr. Cunningham's office and stay with her until I come for you okay?" I instructed my son and pushed him in the direction of the office.

"Sere, wait damn it!" I heard Andrew call out. I don't know why I was running from him, I just couldn't take chances, I didn't want to get my heart broken anymore. I kept running and ended up entering a secluded field of trees. Looking around frantically, I tried to find a place to hide from him. I couldn't risk the chance of him catching me and making me tell him everything.

"No," I whispered when I discovered that I came to a dead end with no way out. Just as I was about to run back, Andrew had already caught up with me. "God, no," I called out to no one in particular. "Please don't do this to me," I begged him, tears continuing to spill from my eyes.

"Do what Sere? What am I doing to you?" Andrew asked me loudly as he walked passed me, looking out of the field of trees. "All I want is some time to talk, why do you keep running from me damn it? I've been searching for you in vain for the last two years and when I finally find you, you try to run away form me again!" he continued to yell at me angrily. It scared me to death just seeing the rage burn in his eyes that I fell to my knees and just rocked myself hoping that I would wake up from this horrible nightmare.

"Stop, please just stop," I cried out quietly still rocking myself.

"Sere?" Andrew called out after a short moment of silence. He turned around and rushed over to me to see if I was okay. I don't know what came over me but I just fell into his arms and cried out openly. Andrew placed me on his lap and just cradled me in his arms and he too began to cry with me. Together, we sat there for over an hour crying and holding onto one another like there was no tomorrow. "I'm so sorry," Andrew whispered, his hands gently stroking my hair.

"I'm sorry too," I sobbed into his shirt loudly. "I should have told you from the very beginning, I'm the one who is wrong for so many things, I'm so sorry," I admitted staring at the ground because I was too ashamed. Finally I was able to get everything off my shoulders after all the years of lying and deceiving.

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have helped you, I would have been there with you every step of the way," replied Andrew, pulling me face up to meet his.

"I had no idea of what I was doing and I didn't want to ruin your life!" I cried even harder thinking about what I went through when I first found out I had slept with Andrew and had later gotten pregnant. "Plus you had just got started with law school and then Rita came into your life and I didn't want to mess things up for you," I added sadly.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that alone, not to mention bottle everything up for so long," whispered Andrew as he placed a trail of kisses all over my face. And in the heat of the moment, our lips connected and we just let go of all the vented up passion that had been pushed aside for so long.

"Andy," I whispered trying to push him back so we can talk things through. "I need to go get Keith," I stated, pulling myself up from his lap and looking around for the road. Before I could walk away, I suddenly was pulled back into Andrew's embrace once again.

"Let's go pick up our son," he said taking my hand into his and leading me back to Dr. Cunningham's office. I was so shocked that I allowed him to walk me all the way back to the office without any resistance. Once we reached the office, Keith had spotted us from the window and came running out to meet us.

"Mama!" cried Keith, rushing over and hugging me.

"Sorry about that Mrs. Cunningham, thank you so much for watching Keith for us," said Andrew as I stood there mutely with my arms wrapped around Keith.

"No problem, I'm just glad you two worked things out. Are you alright Sere?" Dr. Cunningham asked giving me a look over. What took me by surprised was that I nodded and then felt Andrew wrapped his arms around my waste. "I apologize for interfering with your life Ms. Moon. I just thought you would be thrilled to see your fiancée," she explained to me. After hearing the word fiancée, I snapped out of my zombie like state and nearly had a seizure.

"Fiancée?" I asked unsure that I heard her correctly.

"Yes, Andrew here told me the news earlier. Why didn't you tell me you were engaged dear?" answered Katherine with a smile.

"What is she talking about? We are not engaged Andy!" I yelled at Andrew angrily after ripping his arms off of me. "I can't believe this," I whispered, placing a hand to my temple because I could already feel a headache coming.

"I know we're not, but it's not like it'll never happen. I mean come on, we have a kid together for Christ sake Sere!" Andrew yelled back, literally catching me off guard with his outburst.

"Not now Andrew," I tried to calm him down.

"Then when damn it, how much longer are you going to make me chase you? Can't you realize that I want to make it right?" Andrew asked me tiredly, bringing tears to my eyes.

"Lets go baby, we need to get home," I called out to Keith, grabbing our things and pulling him out the door with Andrew following shortly behind me.

"What about Toki mama?" asked Keith, looking back at Dr. Cunningham sadly. Andrew quickly turned around and took Toki from her and ran back to the car before I got in.

"Sorry, this is a two-seater, you'll have to figure something out or call a cab," I announced pointing at my Audi.

"That's fine, I can follow you back, I bought myself a car when I got here," replied Andrew quietly after setting Toki down into Keith's lap.

"Okay, see you at home Andrew!" called out Keith happily.

"I'll wait here until you pull up then we'll take off," I told him before getting in and starting the engine. Turning o the lights, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw him running towards a silver Mercedes Benz and hop in. Within a matter of seconds he had pulled up behind me and we took off back towards the house.

"So this is where you've been all this time?" Andrew asked, taking a look around the little estate. It was a descent size, two-story house with a huge yard and a four-car garage as well as a guesthouse. I didn't know what to say so I just went ahead and unlocked the door so that everyone could come in and rest.

"I haven't had the chance to unpack or go furniture shopping yet, so it's kind of plain looking," I told him sheepishly. I'm a fashion designer for god's sake and my house isn't even furnished, how embarrassing can this be right?

"It's okay, at least you have a warm house to live in; I only have en empty loft I rented out. It doesn't even feel like home," replied Andrew, rubbing the back of his neck tiredly.

"Why don't you go upstairs and take a bath honey, I'll give Toki his dinner and put him in your room when he's all done," I told my son and watched him scurry upstairs to his room. "So, how long have you been in Cherry Hill?" I asked not knowing what else to say to him.

"About a week," answered Andrew, he too beginning to feel awkward.

"Have a seat, I'll go make you some coffee," I told him, pointing at the living room and I went into the kitchen to start the coffee maker.

"I've missed you," whispered Andrew as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, startling me at the same time. I took in a breath and for some odd reason just held it in as he turned me around and looked me in the eye and continued talking to me. "God how I've missed you," he added, placing a kiss on my lips.

"I've missed you too," I replied giving into the urge to just hug him.

"So does that mean I get to stay with you and Keith from now on?" asked Andrew, squeezing me tightly in his embrace.

"I don't know, is that really what you want?" I asked him unsure of what to do about the situation. Should I let him stay with us and risk the chance of him wanting to leave us and break my heart? What if he's not ready to be a father yet? What if this is all a mistake and he doesn't really know what he wants but thinks he's obligated to stay with us?

"Of course this is what I want, I love both you and Keith very much," answered Andrew, placing his hands around my shoulder. "And no I'm not doing this because I feel that I owe it to you. I'm doing this because I want us to be a family," he added before I could think of anything to say back to him. Pulling away from him, I walked over to the window that over-looked my vast back yard into a huge lake and stood there thinking for a while.

"I don't want you jumping into anything you're not ready for. I don't want you to regret your decision in the future," I told him as calmly as possible. "I don't want to get hurt anymore," I whispered, mainly to myself, hoping he didn't hear me.

"I would never hurt you," Andrew told me, coming up behind me and placing his hands on my shoulder firmly. "I've wanted us to be together for so long, but I was afraid you were still in love with Darien," he admitted quietly, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair. He turned me around and looked me in the eyes so I would know that it was the truth.

"I don't know," I stuttered, not sure that I should even be saying anything because I might regret what I say later on.

"What don't you know mama?" asked Keith, interrupting our conversation. We both took a step away form one another and looked at him awkwardly.

"Uh, nothing baby," I lied but my son knew I was a bad liar.

"Mama, you know that's bad right?" he asked me knowingly, confusing the hell out of Andrew. I laughed and nodded, rubbing the back of my head nervously. "And you know you want Andrew to stay with us," he added, skipping over to us and grabbing onto our hands. "She missed you the whole time, every night she would sneak into my room and look at our picture," he whispered to Andrew with a sneaky giggle as I gasped.

"Oh really?" asked Andrew, eyeing me with amusement.

"I need to make dinner, what do you want tonight baby?" I asked trying to change the subject and avoid any questions from Andrew. I turned and headed into the kitchen before they could answer me.

"We'll go out to eat tonight," answered Andrew, grabbing my hand and pulling me back into his arm. "So, tell me more about how much you missed me," teased Andrew, earning a hard slap on the chest from me. He laughed and kissed me on the cheek making Keith turn away and make gagging noises at the sight we were displaying before him.

"We'll talk about that after dinner tonight," I told him, pulling out of his grasp and taking a seat on my comfortable recliner. It had been a long an exhausting day for me, and I need to take a load off. I patted the chair beside me and signaled for the two men in my life to come sit by me, which of course they obeyed. Turning on the television, I flipped through an assortment of channels until finally landing on the news station.

"And on international news, CEO of Shields Corporation has announced its plan to merge with Moonlight Fashions Inc. this afternoon," introduced the anchorwoman calmly. With that said, I jumped from my chair and gawked at the television set. "Tune in tonight to find out the response from Moon light Fashions!" said the anchorwoman cheerfully. The remote fell from my hands and I almost collapsed from all the blood that rushed to my brain simultaneously.

"Sere," Andrew cried, leaping up to catch me before I could hit the carpet.

"Mama," screamed my son right before I blacked out.

AN

Wow, what an installment right? Laughs I hope that was long enough for your enjoyment.


	19. The Conflict

AN

I have a flame to bite back at; according to a certain person, this is what's wrong with my story. Shade: "what is it with sere falling unconcious in almost every chapter she is not that much of a whimp! and i know of no one that6 faints thaty much without being pregnant!"

First off, I suggest you to either go back to grammar school or check your spelling you impudent imbecile. And secondly, where the hell are all these times that she has fainted? Can someone please find them because I cannot seem to find them. Oh yeah and about that stupid comment about people not fainting this many times in their life, just to let you know, people do faint more than once in their lifetime. It's called blacking-out or tunnel vision, I know because I'm majoring in Biology. So if you have any more complaints, shove them up your you ingrate, because I certainly don't write for people like you. Anyway, here is the next chapter!

Chapter XIX: The Conflict

"Sere," Andrew called out, slapping her cheeks lightly to get her to wake up. He picked her up and placed her gently on the couch before deciding to do anything else. He recalled back in college that if you move a person who fainted, they'd wake up really sore, so he hoped she wouldn't be in pain later on.

"Is mama going to be okay?" Keith asked looking at his mother worriedly. He walked over to the couch and took her hand into his and squeezed it tightly.

"She just fainted, she'll be okay though," reassured Andrew patting Keith's back to calm him down. "Can you get me a cold towel?" he asked brushing a few stray strands of hair from Serena's face. Keith ran off and came back with a cold pack from the fridge before taking a seat beside his mom and watching Andrew carefully.

"Ugh," Sere half groaned in pain and half flinched from the cold pack coming in contact with her warm skin. She tried to get up but Andrew gently pushed her back down and held the cold pack to her forehead.

"Don't move, just try to catch your breath and rest," Andrew ordered her sternly.

"Please tell me I was hallucinating earlier," I pleaded with Andrew, gripping his hand tightly. 'God, what am I going to do if this isn't a hoax and he really does plan on taking over Moonlight Fashions?' I thought nervously to myself.

"I'm sorry Sere, but you heard everything correctly," Andrew said quietly.

"Mama, why does that man scare you?" asked Keith curiously. "I don't like him," he added bitterly. Andrew and I were both taken back at our son's blatant disrespect for someone who was older than him even if we didn't like him ourselves.

"Baby don't say such mean things, didn't I teach you better than this?" I lectured my son calmly. I didn't know what to say so I tried to make the best of things and give him a lesson in life, even if I disliked Darien, I wouldn't allow my son to grow up holding a grudge against him because he didn't know the moronic guy.

"But mama, he does mean things to you and makes you cry!" Keith argued back.

"No buts about it Keith, you are to respect your elders no matter what son," Andrew interrupted our arguing in a strict tone of voice.

"Son?" Keith suddenly stopped dead in the mist of our bickering.

"Since I'm your father, I too have to teach you right from wrong when you make bad judgments in life," replied Andrew quietly not sure of what to say to the little boy.

"So does that mean I have to call you dad?" my baby asked him with a confused face. After that, there was a long moment of silence and awkwardness between the three of us. Andrew and I just looked at one another not knowing how to handle the situation.

"Yeah baby, you have to call him daddy," I said finally after thinking about it for a while. "I know it may be a little weird, but you'll get used to it, I promise," I added, hoping he wouldn't ask any more questions that I might not be able to answer.

"How come he never lived with us then mama?" Keith asked, suddenly wondering why he has a father in his life now after all these years. Now that was what took us both by surprised because I never thought he'd ask such a question.

"Well baby, that's because mama never told him, but now he knows and he wants to make up for all the lost time," I explained to my son, hoping he wouldn't be mad at me and especially Andrew because he never did anything to him. "Besides, Andrew has always been in our lives, so it's not any different right?" I added praying that he would accept this.

"Yeah," Keith said quietly, looking down at his feet sadly.

"Listen, I know it's hard for you to accept Keith, but I promise to try and make it up to you," said Andrew nervously. He had never had to deal with this situation before so he had no idea of how to handle it. Sure he was a top-notch lawyer, but they never taught him how to deal with something like this in law school.

"I don't blame you Andrew... I mean dad," Keith started off but quickly corrected himself. All his life he had wished he had a father to look up to and now he finally did, so why wasn't he happy since Andrew turned out to be his father? I felt so horrible knowing my son was confused beyond belief and I was to blame for his state of mind. "May I be excused?" he turned and asked me quietly. I felt so bad that I could only nod my head and watch him run upstairs to his room and shut the door quietly.

"Oh Andrew," I cried, burying my face in his shirt and sobbing quietly to myself.

"It's okay Sere," Andrew tried to comfort me.

"I feel so bad," I told him quietly. "Why did this have to happen to me?" I asked him sadly. I had tried so hard to be a good mother to him, to give him everything he wanted and needed in life, but to no avail. I knew all his life he had looked at his friends and watched them grow up with such wonderful fathers and wish he had one too. Now he finally gets that chance yet he doesn't know what to think of it anymore.

"We'll work on it together, I'm here now," whispered Andrew reassuringly.

"I'm a horrible mother," I admitted while walking away from him towards the glass doors that led out to the backyard. Just as I was about to head out to my private garden to think, the phone rings loudly. "I'll get it," I told Andrew when he reached for the receiver. "Hello, Moon residence," I answered quietly after clicking the speakerphone on.

"Serena?" responded the person on the other end.

"Alex?" I replied wondering why he had called. "What's up?" I asked after snapping back to reality. "Something wrong at the company?" I questioned worriedly.

"No, just called to see if you saw the news or not," answered Alex in a calm voice. "You didn't did you?" he asked nervously.

"I saw Alex, how could I not? You know I watch the news everyday," I replied hysterically. I started to pace back and forth thinking about what this phone call was about. Maybe the proposal wasn't a hoax and I'd have to deal with Darien once again.

"Sere, we've called an emergency meeting, you need to fly out within the hour," Alex told me with his business voice. My world almost fell apart when I heard his words over the speakers, I can't believe this is actually happening.

"I'll be there in half an hour if you send the chopper out for me," I replied.

"It's already on its way there, you should be hearing from the pilot in about five minutes. What are we going to do with Keith though?" asked Alex while rummaging through paperwork. It sounded like he too was organizing his papers for the meeting.

"Don't worry about him, he's been taken care of," I responded quickly. "Anyway, get your stuff together and I'll see you soon okay?" I told him while heading upstairs to change and get my briefcase. "Bye Alex!" I yelled from the staircase.

"See you soon Moon," replied Alex before hanging up. The phone hung up by itself and I came back down in a suit with my briefcase after a few minutes.

"Andrew, can you go get Keith for me? We need to leave soon," I asked Andrew hurriedly. I slipped into a pair of beige pumps and clipped my hair up quickly the headed into the kitchen and cleaned up while searching for my papers and glasses.

"Mama, where are we going?" Keith asked coming into the kitchen with Andrew and his backpack. Andrew had his blazer back on and we were all set to go, but when I turned around he took a step back in shock.

"What?" I asked, confused at the look on his face.

"Nothing," Andrew snapped out of his daze. "You just look, so... So business like," he answered quickly. I took off my glasses and looked at him funny.

"I always look like this when I go to meetings, you've seen many pictures before silly," I replied with a confused look on my face. "What's so different this time?" I asked him as he came up to me and got a closer look.

"You look sexy," Andrew whispered into my ears, making me shutter. My stomach felt like there were a million butterflies inside of it and I felt tingly all over. Suddenly there were huge gusts of wind blowing over the house loudly.

"That must be the helicopter," I finally said after a moment of silence passed by. "We need to go," I told the two boys as I grabbed my things and walked out to the front door. I waited for them to step out the door and locked up then waved towards the pilot and ran toward the chopper and got into the back. "Thanks Henry," I called out before securing the buckle to my seat belt.

"Happy to be here Ms. Moon," replied the pilot, getting out and helping Keith into the chair beside me. Andrew quickly climbed in and took a seat beside me, earning a questioning glance from the pilot to me. I mouthed a quick 'I'll explain later' and we took off.

Moonlight Fashion Inc.

"Okay guys, Sere should be here any minute, lets get this show moving," boomed Jason loudly as the entire room quieted down. Everyone from the vice president to all the secretaries were present in the huge conference room talking amongst themselves quietly.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late," I called out to everyone as I came running into the huge room and rook a seat at the center of the table. "Where's the big guy?" I asked after taking a quick glance around.

"Couldn't make it, had to meet with Shields Corp to tell them off," explained Jason. "Why is Andrew and Keith both here?" he asked me awkwardly after noticing them standing by the door quietly.

"Long story, they won't disturb us. Lets talk business people," I yelled to the whole room to get their attention. "Andrew, can you take Keith down the hall to my office and watch him for me? I'll come get you guys when we're through here," I asked in my normal tone.

"Sure, lets go Keith," Andrew called out to Keith as he took my son's free hand and led him out of the conference room. Keith waved to everyone before the door shut behind him and everyone quickly waved back and laughed.

"Okay guys, enough with the delays," I called out to everyone in a more serious tone. "What do we have on that stupid news interruption earlier? Is it real or fake?" I asked forcing myself to talk calmly about everything.

"It's real all right, I got memo early this morning," answered my personal secretary. Perhaps I should introduce the members of the MFI team so you can understand what role they share in this company and my life. I never told you this, but the 'boss' we always refer to is just my advisor who handles all the company's business in person. I am the silent president and chief executive officer to the entire company. It had been handed down to me when the previous president, whom I considered a second father, decided to retire. He also had a son, ALex, who is also on the board with me.

Alex: head of security and internal affairs.

Michelle: MFI executive and international/domestic affairs.

Jason: marketing manager and silent vice president.

Trista: MFI fashion designer and head of finance.

Heather: MFI hair/make-up stylist and MFI promoter.

"So what's the word on Galen's whereabouts?" I asked after looking through all the papers in my briefcase. I could tell already that it was going to be a long day ahead for the entire group. "And could somebody please get that video conference call working?!" I shouted tiredly. I wanted to get this call over with because I knew Mr. Shields was probably happy that he was making me go through hell.

"Sere, it's not that easy. We can't get through to Darien's office so we can't arrange a public meeting to dispute this crap," replied Jason calmly. I sighed and slammed my briefcase shut and walked over to a nearby window to look away from the group.

"What am I going to do? I can't let him come after this company, daddy didn't leave this company to me so that I could let it fall apart in the hands of the worst man on earth!" I yelled, tears brimming my eyes.

"Sere, we know dad wouldn't be angry with you because he knows you will get through this in one piece and make him proud," Alex said coming up behind me and wrapping a reassuring arm around my shoulders gently.

"Yeah, dad believed in you, that's why he handed over his company to you," spoke up Michelle suddenly. "Don't be so hard on you Sere, we're all here for you," she added soothingly.

"I don't know, I can't face him," I whispered, turning back to see the smiling faces of my wonderful friends which were like a second family to me.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of al the media conferences for you," Jason interrupted us.

"Thanks guys, I don't know what I would do without you all here to help me. You don't know how much I appreciate all of you being there for me all these years," I told everyone wiping away the tears that had managed to escape my eyes and rolled down my face.

"Ms. Moon?" one of my secretaries interrupted our conversation from the door.

"Yes Kayla?" I responded wondering why she poked her head through the door so abruptly. I went back to the table and took a seat amongst everyone.

"We have Mr. Shields on conference call, line one," informed Kayla in a quiet voice.

"Thanks, give me a few minutes," I told her before she nodded and slipped back out the door quietly. I cleared my voice and gestured for someone to turn the video screen on before turning around to face the damn screen and stare into the eyes of the royal ass.

"Serena, so good to hear from you. I've been waiting for your call all day, what took you so long?" smirked Darien as the screen focused in on the video feed.

"Shut up and listen for once," I spit back angrily. I could hear every laugh at my harsh response before quieting to listen to the conversation. "Let's get right to business, I don't like you and you most definitely don't want to get on my bad side when it comes to business," I told him straight out with a serious face on.

"Aw, I'm hurt Serena. And here I thought this would be a great way for us to celebrate our reunion," replied Darien, his face not changing at all in between his words. I swear, the guy was as stoic as can be, he's heartless I tell you. "Either way, you will have to deal with me, because I will push for this merger whether you like it or not," he stated plain and simple.

"What makes you think you can get what you want, because this isn't a company that is run by people who have been bribed by your filthy money," I fired back angrily.

"Please, who wouldn't want to be a part of my multi-million dollar corporation?" Darien asked me with that conceited look on his face.

"I'm afraid it won't be as easy as you make it out to be Mr. Shields," Jason interrupted our argument quickly before I could say anything else that might damage my status and image.

"Why do you keep saying that? It's really up to your boss and the committee whether or not they want Moonlight Fashions to merge with Shields Corporation," Darien stated pulling out one of his cigars and lighting it. "I think your boss would gladly accept my offer," he added taking a puff of the cigar and blowing it at the screen, grinning cockily.

"You know what, forget it. I thought we could talk this out as civilized people, but it's clear that you want a public dispute to get this through to your head," I yelled out suddenly. "We'll be seeing you at the conference in Tokyo to let everyone know about the outcome of this so called situation," I told him before switching the screen off. "God I hate that man!" I screamed before throwing my pen at the wall.

"I can still hear you Serena," Darien said after clearing his voice, causing me to jump back in alarm.

"Holy mother of Christ," I almost yelled as one of the assistants quickly ran to shut off the audio feed.

"Calm down Sere, don't let this get you so worked up," said Alex after an awkward silence passed by briefly.

"Sorry everyone, I just can't deal with everything," I explained to the group before grabbing my stuff and leaving everyone to talk while I headed over to my office.

"Okay guys, why don't we prepare ourselves for this press conference," instructed Jason after I shut the door. "Trista, can you handle things while I talk to Sere?" he asked quickly before getting up and chase after me.

"Jason, don't bother, I just need a little quiet time to think right now," I pleaded with him quietly. I was physically exhausted, first Andrew pops up out of nowhere, now Darien comes out saying he's going to take over my company. It's just a little too much for a girl to handle on her own all at once.

"I know, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with everything," Jason said, wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me gently.

"I'm sorry, I just feel so stressed out right now. I didn't mean to take anything out on any of you guys," I apologized quietly.

"We know," was Jason's only reply as he held and comforted me.

"Thank you so much for everything," I turned around and told him, placing a light kiss on his cheeks and wrapping my arms around him tightly. "I'd probably go crazy without you here to guide me," I told him honestly.

"I'll always be here for you Sere, no matter what happens," Jason told me once again like he always did when something went wrong in my life. He's such a wonderful guy and any girls would be lucky to have him as their husband.

AN

Okay, I'm going to leave the story right here because I want to get this posted as soon as possible. I'll pick up where I left off in the next chapter; hope you liked it, even if I didn't feel that great about the chapter.


	20. Face Off

AN

Sometimes things just don't work out as they plan and you have to figure your way out of things. I have no idea how I ended up writing what I did on that other chapter, I felt so disgusted with myself when I finished, because I never ever post anything that I don't fully approve of. I hope I didn't get too many flames, because it wasn't the best of my work and I feel bad for even posting it. Oh well, all good things must come to an end sometime right? So here is mine, don't know how long it might be, but this story is wrapping itself up pretty soon. Enjoy.

Chapter XX: Face Off

So there I was standing with Jason holding me as I wept into his shirt not caring who was watching when suddenly I realized that I had forgotten all about Keith and Andrew who had been waiting for me in my office.

"Sorry Jason, I need to go talk to Andy real fast," I spouted off quickly as I pulled away and made a run for my office quickly. Jason looked a bit stunned when I backed off so suddenly that he almost stumbled over. I can't believe I had been so caught up in my emotions that I had completely forgotten about the two boys waiting for me. "Sorry that took so long guys," I explained hurrying into my office and putting everything away before turning to look at them. What I saw took my breath away, there lying on the couch fast asleep were the two men in my life, snoring there little mouths off. It was so cute that I couldn't bear the thought of waking them, so I just sat there in my chair and watched them. 'This is how it should've been all these years for Keith, he deserves so much more than I can ever give him,' I thought to myself sadly.

"Sere, we need to start rounding the crew up to head over to Tokyo as soon as possible," Alex said loudly as he entered my room without knocking. I quickly looked up to glare at him before glancing over at the boys to see if it had woken them.

"God Alex, knock next time!" I yelled at him, shaking my head as he shrugged and mouthed a quiet apology to me. "Lets go outside and talk, I don't want to wake them, they look too cute," I told him as I headed outside first.

"Sorry, didn't know they were sleeping in there," Alex apologized once more hoping I wasn't too angry with him. "Anyway, like I was saying before, we need to give everyone a call and get them to meet us in Tokyo so we can get this press conference over with quickly," he stated in a serious tone.

"I know Alex. See if you can find Galen and have him notified of the recent events and the meeting location. And make sure someone finds Luna and Artemis for me, they need to be there too," I replied tiredly. Ever since Luna and Artemis had gone on vacation it seemed like my life had gone into chaos mode.

"Why do they need to be there?" Alex asked with a confused look.

"Apparently I might have to make a public appearance as the C.E.O. and I want somebody to stay back and take care of business while I'm gone," I answered already dreading the fateful meeting that would let the entire world know who was actually running Moonlight Fashions Inc. I always thought it would be better for Galen to make all the public appearances because he looked a lot more professional than I did, plus he handled the media so much better. But I guess nothing lasts forever, so my decoy from the media wouldn't work anymore.

"I hope you're ready for this Sere, because it's going to be one heck of a roller coaster ride once everyone finds out what we've been hiding," Alex stated quietly before turning to leave me with my thoughts.

"What's going on?" asked Andrew rubbing his eyes after I came back into the office and shut the door. I guess the conversation between Alex and myself woke him up.

"Nothing much, we're going back to Tokyo sooner than I thought," I answered in as few words as I could. Didn't feel like going into detail about what was going to happen, plus Andrew had no idea of anything and I didn't think it was a good idea to burden him with my secret, even if it was just for a little while. "Anyway, did we wake you boys up?" I asked, glancing over to check up on Keith who was still sound asleep. I smiled and brushed some hair away from his face before kissing his forehead.

"Really?!" asked my son, springing up from the couch suddenly, making me fall backwards onto the floor. When I hit the floor I heard my son laugh before running over to help me up. I nodded and he jumped for joy before hugging both Andrew and I tightly. "This is great, nana is going to be so happy to see us!" he shouted.

"Baby, mama is going back for business, so grandma and grandpa won't know we're coming back until I finish the job okay?" I told him as he nodded sadly. "I'm sorry, but you'll still get to spend every moment with them while I'm working," I added quickly, hoping he wouldn't be too bummed out.

"Okay," Keith replied quietly as I kissed his cheek and went to grab some paperwork off my desk. "Is dad coming with us?" he asked suddenly catching me off guard. Did I just hear what I thought I heard?

"What sweetie?" I asked almost choked on my own words.

"Dad, is he coming too?" Keith asked slowly, pointing at Andrew.

"Yes, I'm going everywhere with the two of you from now on," answered Andrew smiling at Keith as my eyes began to tear up.

"Good, now we can be a family," my son said satisfyingly.

"Oh baby, I'm so proud of you," I cried running over and wrapping my arms around him tightly. I thought it would take a while for him to get used to the idea of Andrew being his father, but this just shocked me beyond words.

"I've always wanted a dad. I'm just it's someone like Andrew," Keith told us both with a smile. We grabbed our things and headed back to the chopper who flew us back home so that we could pack our belongings and rest.

Darien

"So, what are the plans with this merger?" asked Michael who was sitting across the table from Darien and a few other guys.

"Looks like there is going to be trouble from the sound of that video conference," Nathan chuckled, earning a slap across the backside of his head from Zack.

"I don't think it's going to be a problem," Darien said brushing it off like it was no big deal. "All I have to do now is talk to this Galen guy and I'll close the deal after a few figures are thrown across the table," he added cockily.

"Don't be so sure of yourself Darien, this guy seems pretty tough. I've been to a few of those conferences he's held publicly, and he doesn't look like he sways easily," spoke up Zack suddenly.

"What do you mean? Money can make any man sway," argued Darien.

"Are you ignorant or something? Moonlight Fashions Inc. is more than enough well off with or without your money Darien. Just because you inherited billions of dollars from your grandfather, that doesn't make you the richest man in the world," said Nathan in an annoyed tone. Sometimes he wondered why he managed to stay friends with the guy for so long.

"Nathan is right you know, the man who previously owned it was filthy rich. It's been said that he was once good friends with your parents," interrupted Michael.

"My parents? Why wasn't I informed of this?" asked Darien suddenly changing his tune after hearing the new information.

"Guess your grandfather didn't think much of it," answered Nathan nonchalantly.

"I wonder what happened between the two families that led them to fall apart," spoke up Zack as he skimmed through the latest press magazine.

"I heard that it had something to do with an arranged marriage between the two families, but it backfired because it was supposed to be with the man's first born son, but since your folks never had a daughter the deal was off," interrupted Michael.

"So why didn't they just make Darien marry the guy's daughter?" asked Nathan thinking that it was an absurd thing to break off a friendship.

"I think Darien wasn't even born yet, and nody knew about the guys' daughter til recently. My guess is that she's a year or two younger than Darien," answered Zack not really caring what the guys were talking about.

"Okay guys, enough of this stupid talk. I need to get a move on if I want to make it to that meeting with this Galen fellow," Darien said getting up from his seat.

"So we'll see you at the press conference?" asked Michael suddenly.

"Yeah, call me and let me know the time and place when you get the information on the meeting," instructed Darien as he shut the door behind him.

"Well, this sounds like it's going to be one heck of a face off. I think the media are going to have a thrill with this considering that we're dealing with two of the biggest companies in the world," laughed Nathan, he too getting up from his seat and heading towards the door to leave.

"Lets hope they don't get in the way of us sealing the deal. From what I heard, this Serena chick was a real fiery one," replied Michael before Nathan disappeared behind the door. "All right guys, lets get out of here, I'm tired," he finished.

Sere

"Hello, Serena Moon speaking," I answered quickly.

"Hey Sere, it's me," replied the voice on the other end.

"Where the hell have you been Galen?" I almost yelled but fought back the urge because my son was sitting right beside me.

"On the plane, I just got off. Listen, I'm in Japan right now," answered Galen quietly. I could hear a lot of ruffling in the background and heard his shoes echoing off the halls of wherever he was at.

"Are you meeting with that bastard already?" I asked angrily.

"Yeah, sorry I didn't let you know. It was sort of a spur of the moment thing," Galen explained, his breathing now starting to pick up. "Anyway, I need to get a move on. Just wanted to call and let you know the plans. Don't worry okay, I'll try to work things out as much as I can," he started saying, trying to wrap up the conversation as quickly as he could.

"Galen, the entire group will be there within a few days so don't do anything that might get you in trouble with us. We're having a press conference right when we get there so don't worry about arguing with the evil man because that's going to be my pleasure," I instructed sounding almost as if I were commanding him not to do a thing without my consent. It was kind of exhilarating too I might add.

"Okay Sere, see you soon then. Bye," was Galen only response as he chuckled and hung up on the other end of the phone.

"Who is Galen?" asked Andrew after I had hung up and put my phone away.

"The guy who everyone thinks is running mom's company," answered Keith quickly before I could even take a breather before answering.

"What?" asked a very confused Andrew.

"I run Moonlight Fashions Inc. silently. Galen is the guy who runs around and pretends to be the president of the company so I can remain behind the scenes only as a fashion designer," I explained rubbing my forehead slightly. I hated having to tell people about the situation in my life, it always sounded so unreal and unbelievable.

"Oh, okay," replied Andrew quickly not wanting to hear about all the details that involved the company. "So who are Luna and Artemis?" he asked suddenly remembering that I had asked Alex to find them back at the office.

"Aunt Luna and Uncle Artemis are mom's best friends almost," spoke up Keith, earning another quick glare from me.

"I met them after I moved here and started working for daddy. They are my confidants," I added knowing Andrew would have more questions.

"So where are they?" Andrew wondered.

"They just got married so they're on their honeymoon," I answered quickly sending a glare over to Keith as a warning not to interrupt me again.

"How'd you meet them? I never heard about any of your friends over here, except for Jason that is," asked Andrew curiously.

"About that, well I never told anyone about them because nobody is supposed to know that we have these ties to one another, otherwise the media would go crazy with our personal lives," I explained quietly.

"I see, one more question?" Andrew asked almost timidly.

"Shoot, I've told you everything else, one more can't hurt," I told him.

"How'd you become the president of this company?" was Andrew's question. Now how do I explain to him the situation behind this? Even my own son couldn't answer this one for me because it was so complicated.

"Well, after I started working for Moonlight Fashions when I first moved here, Jason set me up with a meeting with the president who ended up sponsoring me throughout college. I guess I sort of grew close to him and he introduced me into his family, which is how I know Alex and Michelle, his children. Michelle is Alex's wife by the way. Anyway, some two years after I had Keith, Richard decided to adopt me into his family, hence the reason why my last name is Moon now. After I started to move up in the fashion industry, Richard started training me to take over the company since he was retiring. I know you're probably wondering why he didn't let his own son take over, but he does share a key role in running this company with me. After Alex declined the position as C.E.O. of the company, Richard asked me, which I had no other choice but to accept because he had done so much for me. Anyway, to make a long story short, I've been running this company silently behind Galen for at least three years now," I finished my long and complex story with a sigh.

"So where is this Richard guy now?" inquired Andrew after I had told him everything which only made me laugh because he was always so curious about my life.

"He's living at the family estate in California with mom. You'll get to meet them at the family reunion later this year during Christmas," I answered with a smile knowing that Andrew would be scared out of his mind to meet my 'adopted' parents. Like my real parents weren't bad enough already.

"Family reunion?" questioned Andrew with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, mom and daddy always throw a big ball every Christmas and the whole family gets together to catch up and celebrate the holidays," I explained.

"So you call them mom and dad?" Andrew asked with this weird expression on his face like he was trying to figure something out.

"Of course, grandma and grandpa Moon wouldn't have it any other way," spoke up Keith, after sitting quietly throughout my story he finally decided he couldn't stay silent any longer.

"What?" Andrew said, taking a step back and sitting down to process all the information we had just told him. I guess it was a little too much for a person to take all in one day. I mean, it sounded so unreal that even I didn't believe it at times.

"I know it's a lot to grasp but you asked us, so I told you everything," I replied, laughing slightly at the look on Andrew's face.

"I wasn't expecting this sort of answer," Andrew admitted quietly.

"Yeah, that's why I don't tell anybody about my family," laughed Keith.

"You can't anyway," I teased, poking my son in the stomach lightly. So with the story of my life set aside, we decided to rest up for the remainder of the evening.

Galen & Darien

"Hello, I'm meeting a Mr. Darien Shields here for dinner," Galen notified the host as he entered the restaurant and handed his coat to the front desk.

"Last name please?" asked the host courteously.

"Whittington," answered Galen quietly as he adjusted his necktie and smooth out the few wrinkles in his suit.

"Right this way please Mr. Whittington, Mr. Shields just arrive a short time ago," replied the host, gesturing in the direction of the dinging hall.

"Thank you," Galen said as he followed the host a few paces behind.

"Mr. Shields, your guest has arrived," announced the host courteously.

"Hello, Galen Whittington," spoke up Galen, extending an arm out to Darien.

"Nice to meet you, Darien Shields," replied Darien stoically.

"Likewise. Shall we get started?" Galen suggested, taking the offered seat across from Darien at the table.

"What is the asking price?" Darien asked getting right to the point.

"If you haven't noticed by now, Moonlight Fashions Inc. isn't as poor as you keep assuming it to be. We are one of the top companies in the fashion industry, not to mention the family behind us is one of the most wealthiest around," stated Galen.

"So what are you trying to say? You don't want the offer I've place on the table?" asked Darien almost not believing his ears. "Are you kidding me? Who wouldn't want to take up this offer, it's golden!" he scoffed cockily.

"Sorry, but the reasoning behind that cannot be discussed right now," Galen explained. "I'm afraid if you have any more questions, they'll have to wait until the conference later this week," he added quickly, not wanting any more trouble.

"Why did we even meet if you weren't going to accept or even consider my offer?!" fired Darien furiously.

"To let you know that we are adamant about refusing your proposal. You took it upon yourself to assume that we would ever agree to such preposterous ideas," admitted Galen tiredly. The jet lag was just not hitting him and he needed to leave before he knocked out on the table.

"Fine, if you want to get the press involve, so be it. But be warned, I am not an easy go to fend off," argued Darien getting up and leaving Galen abruptly.

"Oh god, no wonder she hates him," mumbled Galen, he too getting up and heading out to the limo that had been waiting for him outside.

Luna & Artemis

"Hey Luna, where'd you put my briefcase at?" asked Artemis from the office. They were in Paris for their honeymoon and he wanted to make sure he could squeeze some work in during his free time.

"It should be in the room by my laptop honey!" called out Luna from the bathroom closet while trying to find a nice outfit to wear to dinner. "Why do you need it anyway? We have reservations in half an hour," she added curiously.

"Just want to double check some files I worked on during the flight over," answered Artemis coming into the closet to grab a tie. "Anyway, has Rena or Jason called yet?" he asked while adjusting his tie.

"Here, let me," said Luna, fixing his tie and straightening it for him as well. "And no they haven't called yet, but I think I heard my PDA go off a little while ago," she added before turning around and gesturing for him to zip her gown up.

"I'll go check and see what it is," replied Artemis after sliding the zipper to the top of his wife's dress. He grabbed his blazer and slid into it while walking out to their bedroom to find the PDA. 'Wonder why they haven't called?' he thought while pulling the small palm pilot out and flipping through the screens with the pen. A small envelope was flashing in the corner of a screen so he tapped it with the pen.

To: Luna & Artemis

Sorry to interrupt your honeymoon, but you're needed back at headquarters as soon as possible. A lot of problems have come up and the president along with committee board are all flying to Japan for a conference so they've asked for you two to return and watch over the company while they are away.

From: Rachel

"Luna, forget the reservations! We need to fly back to New York tonight!" Artemis called out as he started to look for their belongings.

"What's going on?" asked Luna in confusion. Artemis threw her the palm pilot so she could take a look while he packed their things. "How come the secretaries never include thorough details on such matters of importance?" she asked annoyingly, inwardly worrying over what was really going on back at the company.

"Just pack your stuff, I'll let the hotel know that we're leaving and ask them to page the jet for us," replied Artemis while zipping up his suitcase. He reached over and picked up the telephone and dialed for the front desk. "Hello, yes this is Mr. Whitfield in room 304, can you please have my private jet paged and notify your manager that I am checking out tonight? Thank you," he told the clerk and hung up shortly after she had acknowledged everything.

"Okay, I'm all set. When is the jet going to be ready?" asked Luna anxiously.

"Don't know, they just paged the pilot. We'll head out to the airport now and by the time we arrive, he should have the engine warmed up and ready to go," answered Artemis, grabbing hold of the two suitcases and walking over to the door where a bellboy was already waiting for them.

"Your car is waiting sir," he announced while grabbing the suitcases and placing them on the cart along with the briefcases Luna were holding onto. When everything was loaded on the cart they headed down to the elevator and straight to the black Mercedes that was waiting for them outside.

"Thank you," said Artemis, tipping the bellhop fifty dollars before getting into the car after Luna had slipped in. They quickly departed for the airstrip and when they arrived, the pilot had just started the jet up so they got to unload their belongings from the car and have it transferred to the jet's cargo bay.

"We should be leaving soon Mr. & Mrs. Whitfield," announced the pilot over the intercom as Artemis and Luna took their seats inside and jet and buckled up. The flight home took a total of twenty-four hours and once they arrived at the JFK airport, a driver was outside waiting for them to transport them directly to the main offices.

Sere

"Okay everyone, we all set?" I asked nervously, mentally going over my checklist once more. I paced back and forth checking the time to make sure we wouldn't be late for our flight. 'I hope Luna and Artemis makes it here in time,' I prayed.

"Where are the newlyweds at?" asked Alex trying to liven the mood.

"Shut up Alex, I still have a name you know," interrupted Luna from the door tiredly. She quickly walked in and hugged me before taking a seat at the table.

"Sorry Luna, sheesh! You'd think that after a wedding you'd be somewhat nicer, but why am I not surprised," said Alex as he rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Okay guys, that's enough already," I interrupted the little dispute before it could go any further and turn into an all out tongue war. "Luna, Artemis, have you two been filled in on the current situation?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to go into a long explanation on what was going on as I saw Artemis enter the conference room.

"Yeah, Rachel was kind enough to two-way me all the information before I arrived at the office," answered Artemis, setting his brief case down and hugging me. 'How are you?' he mouthed as he pulled back to get a good look at my tired face.

"Amazingly still alive," I muttered quietly between the two of us. With a smile, we parted ways as I headed over to slip into my blazer. "Okay, since you two are back, I can leave without any worries. We'll call you as soon as business starts to inform you of how things are coming along," I instructed the pair as they stood in front of everyone. "Let's get this show on the road people!" I ordered before heading out.

"Bye everyone, don't work too hard and watch out for Sere!" I heard Luna yell to everyone as we all filed out of the rather large conference room. I laughed inwardly to myself as I heard all the girls mumble a quick 'yeah yeah' before they left.

"So moon-face, you have any idea of how to fight these dirty bastards, strategy wise?" asked Alex curiously as we all waited for the cars to pull up.

"Don't know yet," I answered honestly as I saw three black cars pull up in front of us and my drivers get out to grab our luggage. "It's always best to see what they are throwing at us before we plan any strategies anyway," I added getting into the back seat of the limo as my personal driver, Henry, opened the door for us. Andrew helped Keith into his cars eat before taking a seat beside me.

Along with me was my most trusted secretary, Rachel, and my personal assistant, Lily. Jason sat up front with the driver, he only brought along his personal assistant since he handled all his files personally. In the stretch Navigator directly behind us was Alex along with his team of security guards and Michelle with her staff. And last but not least, Trista and Heather in the Expedition, who opted not to bring anyone along so I instructed an MFI record keeper to tag along with the two of them. We arrived at the landing strip on time and prepped for our departure quickly. The flight was rather short seeing as how everyone was dead tired so we slept throughout most of the flight. Our plane landed in Tokyo during some time in the night because we were all disheveled when we arrived at the front desk of the Hilton. I reserved an entire floor for my staff so they could have sufficient working space that was apart from their bedrooms.

"Everyone just grab a room and get some sleep, we'll meet up at six o'clock, which isn't very far away, to discuss our plans of action," I told everyone with a loud yawn. Glancing at my wrist, I noticed that it was already 1 a.m. so hurried into my room and Andrew followed suit carrying a sleeping Keith in his arms. After I disappeared into the suit, everyone slowly broke up and headed in to get some sleep.

Morning

I woke up slightly dazed as I turned off the alarm clock and slid into my slippers and trudged over to the restroom and washed up. When I came back, I saw Andrew sound asleep on the bed, so I decided to let him rest while I went ahead and got to work with the rest of the team. I opened the door and there sprung all over my living room were my staff working diligently and quietly at the too! "Morning everyone," I greeted them, laughing as I saw them all stare at me in shock.

"Did we wake you?" asked Alex sheepishly.

"No, not at all!" I answered quickly. I clipped my hair up into a bun and was about to head over to the kitchen when a mug was shoved in my direction.

"Here," said Michelle tiredly as she sipped on her own coffee.

"Thanks," I replied, still a bit tired. I looked down at my watch and noticed that it was fifteen minutes until six. "Have you all been here long?" I asked, shocked that no one had slept very long.

"Yeah, Alex got everyone up at five this morning, we've been trying to work quietly ever since," answered Rachel in a quiet tone as she came up behind us.

"Oh my god," I gasped, shocked at Alex's behavior. I trudged over to him and tapped him on the shoulder lightly. "May I have a work with you?" I asked sweetly.

"Sure," said Alex merrily.

"How on earth could you wake my team of workers up so damned early you inconsiderate ass?!" I yelled at him loudly. Everyone stopped dead in the mist of their work and looked up at me with worried faces.

"Well, I wanted to get a head start on everything," Alex answered me quietly.

"I don't care what you wanted Alex, you should've let them sleep, look at them!" I yelled, pointed frantically at my staff who were all still in their pajamas.

"Uh, sorry?" said Alex, backing away from me slowly.

"I can't believe you sometimes!" I muttered, walking away from him. "Everyone, go ahead and take five, no make that fifteen!" I instructed. "Go and wash up, change your clothes for God's sake!" I added, shoving them all out of the front door and into the hallway. The all nodded and thanked me silently as I slammed the door loudly.

"Mama, why are you up so early?" I heard my son ask me quietly as I turned around and found him behind me rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry baby!" I apologized quickly and scooped him into my arms and rushed back into my room to tuck him back in. "Go back to sleep, mommy won't be loud anymore okay?" I told him in a soothing voice as I combed his hair with my hand. When he fell asleep, I got up and turned to leave but felt a pair of arms around my waist.

"How come I don't get that kind of treatment when I can't sleep?" asked Andrew feigning a look of jealousy. I laughed and spun around to kiss him lightly.

"You don't get to be pampered because I'm not your mother, nor do I want to be," I chided him lightly, laughing as his facial expression changed from amused to disgusted. "See, I thought so too!" I added, slapping him on the arm lightly.

"Are you guys all working already?" asked Andrew quietly.

"Yeah, Alex woke everyone up at five!" I almost yelled, still not believing my adopted brother's antics. "Anyway, you go brush up, there's coffee outside waiting for you," I instructed, nudging Andrew in the direction of the restroom before going back outside and once again finding everyone piled in my living room. "I thought I told everyone fifteen?" I asked in a motherly tone.

"We all finished early and decided to get back to work," answered Lily timidly.

"Yeah, so don't yell at Alex again," muttered Alex, crossing his arms defensively.

"Okay, I won't then," I laughed and ran over to hug him. "You should've known better though," I added, hoping he wasn't' really angry with me.

"I know, I guess I just wanted to get everything done with quickly so we could all go home and get as far away from that asshole as possible," answered Alex tiredly.

"We all know how you feel Sere, I guess that's why we're all a bit jumpy," added Michelle, placing an arm on my shoulder and smiling at me.

"I know, sorry I had to drag the whole company into my dispute," I apologized.

"It's not your fault your ex-boyfriend is an egotistical arrogant jackass boss!" I heard one of my security guards speak up, causing the whole room to burst into laughter. "What?" he asked, not knowing why we all laughed.

"Nothing Josh, that's the first time we've all heard you curse, so I guess it's just shocking that's all," I told him. He shrugged it off and we all went back to work until it was time for breakfast, then we all trudged down to the hotel restaurant where I made sure my entire staff was well fed. Luna and Artemis faxed us some paperwork that we needed and then Galen called to inform us that he'd come by around lunchtime with news on how his meeting with Darien faired.

AN

I guess that's all really, hope it was long enough. I know it's been almost forever since I last updated, but school has taken so much of my time. I hope I can wrap this story up soon. But until then, enjoy what I've got so far! Happy Independence Day everyone!!


	21. CEO Revealed

AN

Looks like this is the end everyone, twenty-one chapters for the twenty-one years that I have come to live so far in my life. Okay, so that's a lame reason for the length, but it's gone on long enough right? I can't continue with this anymore because I've been trying to manage classes plus moving to a new house, so I figured it's a good place to wrap things up. I hope everyone has enjoyed my little spin off of the Serena/Darien break up. I will be starting up the previously announced project, my first crossover ever!!

Chapter XXI: CEO Revealed

"Okay guys, why don't we take five, Galen should be here any moment now so I want you all ready to head out for lunch when he arrives," I announced, letting out a deep breath that I had been holding for God knows how long. I stretched a little and walked over to the balcony and opened the sliding door to let in some fresh air. I turned around to see all my employees sitting there staring at me like lost children. "What am I now, everyone's mother? I said go get ready for lunch, for heaven's sake!" I scolded the entire room as they quickly scrambled to their feet and out the door to their rooms.

"You know, maybe you should listen to your own orders sometime Rena," said Alex as he finished the last of his energy drink. I looked at him with a confused look. "I mean, relax a little, we got this one in the bag," he added before patting my shoulder gently and taking off to get cleaned up for lunch as well.

"Mama, do I have to go to the business lunch this time?" Keith asked me as I walked into my bedroom to find him and Andrew getting dressed. "No sweetie, daddy gets the joy of taking your out today and stopping by grandma's so you can visit with them for a bit while mommy goes to work," I answered him as sweetly as possible, hoping he wouldn't pout because I wasn't going with him.

"I am?" asked Andrew a bit surprised.

"Yup!" I replied energetically. "Besides, I am going to be busy so you are the only other person who can watch him today," I added quickly.

"What about the firm? I need to stop by and check up on things too," Andrew countered with a smirk on his face knowing that he was testing his luck.

"Well that's too bad isn't it honey? I have to get ready for work, so you boys can either head out or wait for me," I announced before waltzing into the closet to grab my crème colored skirt suit from the hanger and changing my outfit.

"I guess we're waiting then," answered Andrew to no one in particular, except maybe Keith, but he wasn't really listening because he was playing games.

"What was that dad?" Keith asked, turning around to look at his dad fully.

"Oh nothing, just said we were going to wait for mom and than leave when she does too," answered Andrew, shocked that his son had such keen hearing at such a young age. It was said that young children have short attention spans so they don't really tune into what you say for long periods of time, perhaps it doesn't apply to his son since he is such a unique child.

"Okay guys, I'm all set, ready?" I asked as I came back out of the restroom with my hair wrapped neatly in a bun and clipped up with a pair of reading glasses sitting on the tip of my nose. Andrew looked up and smiled before heading over to give me a kiss and hugging me tightly.

"You look good," he whispered into my ear quietly so Keith wouldn't overhear him as he kissed her on the lips.

"You do too," I complimented him, stepping back to look him and Keith over once again. They were both adorned in khaki colored slacks and a white dress shirt with brown shoes to match, it was such an adorable sight that I ran to my purse and grabbed out a disposable camera that I had one of my assistants pick up and took a quick snap shot of the two standing there by the door looking at me. "It was just too cute to not make it a Kodak moment," I answered when they gave me a questioning glance.

"Okay then, everyone is down stairs in the lobby waiting for us, we should head down now before they send the police after you," commented Andrew sarcastically.

"Mama, you look really pretty today," whispered Keith quietly as we entered the elevator together. I smiled and knelt down to kiss him and ruffle his hair.

"Thank you baby, so do you!" I replied happily as the elevator chimed when we arrived at the hotel lobby. "Hey everyone!" I called out as we came up behind them and everyone turned to greet us.

"Hey Ren," called out one particular voice that I could distinguish from any group of voices. Looking around frantically, I searched for the familiar voice of my loving best friend whom had helped me make the company to what is was this very day.

"Galen? Is he here?" I asked everyone quickly, walking around the crowd of people to find him.

"Right here Ren," he answered after wrapping his arms around my waist and hugging me from behind tightly.

"Oh my God! You're finally here Galen!" I cried out excitedly and turned around to look him over as tears sprung to my eyes. It had been so long since the two of us had last seen one another because of our busy work schedules. "I missed you!" I quietly added as we were holding onto one another.

"Ahem," someone cleared their voice from behind us suddenly, interrupting our little reunion as we pulled away from one another.

"Oh, sorry," replied Galen, extending his hand out to greet the person who was rudely interrupted our reunion. "Galen Whittington, a pleasure to meet you," he added introducing himself to the person behind me. I turned around to see Andrew standing there and looking at us a bit shocked, but nonetheless he reached out and shook Galen's hand firmly and smiled.

"This is Andrew Forbes, my boyfriend," I said before Andrew could reply.

"Boyfriend?" questioned Galen curiously with a smile on his face.

"Long story Alan, but I'll tell you later," I said not wanting to get into full detail on the whole ordeal. "Anyway, we should get a move on, we've wasted enough time," I added glancing down at my wristwatch.

"Yes, we should," agreed Galen before gesturing towards the door. The entire group turned and started clearing out of the hotel lobby one by one.

"Well, I'll see you back at the hotel tonight?" I turned and spoke with Andrew as everyone got situated in the cars.

"Who was that?" asked Andrew almost too quick for me to realize he was jealous.

"That was Galen, my business partner, remember?" I reminded him of the last conversation we had when he asked about Galen. "He's the face of the company I run," I added, trying to clear things up before Andrew could ask anymore. "Anyway, I need to get going, everyone is waiting for me. So see you both here tonight okay?" I announced. Kissing my two guys quickly, I turned and slid into the back seat of a silver Benz with my assistant right behind me.

"Okay kiddo, looks like it's just you and me today," said Andrew, grabbing hold of Keith's hand and walking him towards the black Benz that was waiting for them. He got Keith into his car seat before getting into the driver's seat and starting the engine. "Any ideas of what you'd like to do before we go to grandma's?" he asked with a mischievous smile on his face.

"The arcade!" answered Keith gleefully as they took off towards the infamous Crown Arcade to play and eat before stopping by the Tsukino house.

La Madeline Caf

Our party was seated in the private area discussing business as we were waiting for our lunch orders to be prepared. I took a sip from my glass of water before getting up to shut the door so we could really get started.

"All right everyone, if I could have your full and devoted attention for a brief moment please!" I called out as loudly as possible to get the room to quiet down so we could start taking turns with the floor. "We'll be starting our discussion about the conference right now, so please pay close attention to everything anyone has to say," I instructed the room as I saw everyone grab some notebooks from their briefcases to take notes. "Galen has a few things he'd like to say to us concerning his lovely business dinner with Shield Corp.," I added before taking a seat.

"Thanks Ren, as everyone knows, I just recently had dinner with Darien Shields to discuss some business proposals. All I have to say is that man is pretty ignorant. His proposal was that he offer to buy out MFI for a substantial sum of money, which of course I kindly refused," announced Galen regally.

"Bastard," I heard Alex mumble under his breath as the entire room snickered.

"I'm sorry, what was that last statement Mr. Moon?" asked Kayla, who was typing out our discussion to keep record of all that was said and agreed upon.

"Uh, nothing," muttered Alex quickly, hoping nobody had heard him.

"Alex! You know how these meetings go, so tell her what you said!" shouted Michelle, secretly trying to hide her grin as she sent a wink in my direction.

"But," started Alex trying to find some way out of his predicament. I laughed and was about to intervene but Trista held up a hand otherwise.

"Off the record, he said and I quote, 'Bastard'," spoke up Trista suddenly as the entire room broke into a loud fit of laughter.

"Ms. Moon?" interrupted Kayla uncertainly.

"Yes Kayla?" I replied trying to stifle my laughter.

"Do I really have to make note of that? Mr. Moon gets a copy of our conferences monthly and I'm not too sure he would like to see that word in it," answered Kayla.

"Well, that leaves us in a jam doesn't it? What do you think Michelle, should we leave it in there so daddy can call and lecture Alex or should we mark it off and let Alex slide just this once?" I asked, smiling and Alex as his facial expression went from embarrassed to shocked.

"I don't know. I'd like to see Alex get set back in place by father like he used to back when we were younger. What do we get if we let Alex slide?" asked Michelle, grinning mischievously.

"You two are so cruel," mumbled Alex, sending a glare at the two of us before crossing his arms and turning to look out the window.

"You need to learn to take a joke lightly Alex! How can we have fun with your so uptight all the time?" I said with a slight pout before walking over and hugging him. "Kaye, please delete everything from that statement up until now please. I move to have it written out of the records," I proposed looking around the room for votes.

"I second that motion," came Heather's quiet reply.

" I third, I guess," mumbled Michelle, inwardly sharing a grin with me.

"All right then, looks like everyone agrees, right Trista?" I asked making sure she was intending on going along with the rest of us. She nodded and I looked over at Kaye, who was busy deleting all the notes that she had taken so far. "Anyway, as Galen was saying, we're refusing Shield Corp.'s offer publicly tomorrow morning at 8 am I right?" I said looking around to see everyone nod at my last statement.

"Well, I want a speech written up for Galen and myself in my box no later than 10 pm tonight. As for the rest of you, I suggest you rest up and prepare for anything and everything tomorrow. I don't want those reporters to make a fool of us, is that clear?" I instructed in a more serious tone as I got up and towards the door and opened it just as the waitresses started walking in with our lunch on numerous trays and carts. "Okay guys, lets eat!" I announced and sat back down.

Andrew & Keith

"Hey dad, can we stop by the mall? I need to get mom something for her birthday," asked Keith while skipping a few steps in front of Andrew.

'Oh shit, Sere's birthday is coming up! I basically forgot! Damn, what am I going to do?' thought Andrew frantically.

"Dad?" called out Keith, worrying since he got no response.

"Oh, yes of course we can. I'll help you find something nice for her okay?" replied Andrew, pushing his thought to the back of his mind for now.

"Okay! But I have to pay for it, or mommy won't know it's from me only!" agreed Keith excitedly as he grabbed onto Andrew's hand and they both got in the car and headed over to the mall to go shopping for birthday presents. While the two were window-shopping, some ladies stopped to comment on how adorable Keith was.

"He's very handsome," commented the older lady of the two.

"Thank you," replied Keith smiling brightly at the two ladies.

"Is your wife not with you?" asked the younger woman.

"Um, I don't have a wife," answered Andrew awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I thought he was your son," she apologized quickly, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Oh, don't worry about that miss. You shouldn't apologize for being correct. He is my son, but no I am not married," explained Andrew quietly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," interrupted the older lady.

"Dad, can we go now? I really want to find something for mom today so I can hide it at grandma's," spoke up Keith as he started feeling impatient.

"Okay, just a second son," replied Andrew before turning back to the two women standing in front of them. "Well, it was nice meeting you but we need to get going," he said with a smile.

"It was nice meeting you," the two women both said in unison before laughing.

"Bye!" called out Keith as he waved and pulled Andrew down the strip of stores rather quickly. Andrew managed to wave before picking up his pace to match Keith's. "I have a great idea for a gift!" he announced enthusiastically as he yanked Andrew into a nearby jewelry store.

"What are we doing in here?" asked Andrew, feeling a little weird in a jewelry store with his son. "Did you want to buy mom some jewelry to wear?" he asked, never thinking that a little child would consider jewelry as a gift at such an age.

"Yup, I saw this really pretty pendant on a commercial and I wanted to get it for mom because she loves crescent moons," replied Keith looking around frantically as he ran from one display case to another in search of the pendant.

"Hello, how may I help you sir?" asked a clerk suddenly.

"Hi, we were just looking for a birthday gift," answered Andrew as he walked over to Keith and looked into the display case he was currently occupied with.

"For you or the little boy?" she asked, smiling at Keith as he looked up and waved quickly before returning to his task of searching for the pendant.

"Actually, it's for his mother," responded Andrew quietly.

"Oh, well if that's the case, we have some love diamond tennis bracelets as well as earrings. Do you know what your wife likes to wear sir?" asked the clerk as she began pulling accessories out from the case.

"I'm looking for that pretty moon pendant you had on the commercial," spoke up Keith suddenly, stopping the clerk from putting anything else on the counter. "I don't want anything else, just that please," he added courteously.

"Oh, well all right then. It's right over here sweetie, let me show you," she replied in a sweet motherly tone as she replaced the jewels back in their place.

"When you're done with him, I'd like to look at some engagement rings as well," announced Andrew as he saw the lady walk Keith over to a corner where all the pendants were hung on a display for customers.

Sere

'Yum,' I thought as I finished off the last of my lunch. "Well, looks like lunch is over, why don't we all head out and find something to do with what's left of the day?" I suggested as the waitresses cleared our tables and handed me my credit card back. "Thank you," I whispered to a waitress nearby me as I handed her the signed copy of the bill. I signaled for the manager to come over and speak with me before handing him a hundred dollar bill. "Thanks for opening up this conference room for us on such short notice, I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to tell all my affiliates of your wonderful business," I told him before shaking his hand. Our bill was quite high, so I didn't hand any one particular waitress their tip, instead I had the restaurant include a generous gratuity to my bill.

"Okay everyone, let's clear out so they can clean up!" called our Alex as he got up and started ushering people out. "Have fun and don't forget to finish your assigned work before deadline tonight!" he yelled right before everyone disappeared out the door quickly. I laughed and got up to leave before he stopped me. "You better not wonder too far off, you need to be ready for tomorrow conference too, and I don't mean physically. I mean mentally," he added before letting me go.

"Don't be so mean Alex," lectured Michelle. "Don't mind him Sere, we can go have fun for the remainder of the day!" she said cheerfully. "Which reminds me, have you planned anything for your birthday in two days?" she added curiously.

"No, maybe just a family dinner. Why?" I asked a little taken back that she had remembered my birthday. I had almost forgotten that it was coming up because of the chaotic schedule that I've had lately, plus the confrontation with Darien and Andrew as well. Life has become so crazy in such a short amount of time.

"No reason really, just thought we'd like to let you know that you shouldn't plan anything because it's all been taken care of," said Alex suddenly.

"What?" I asked more confused than before.

"We're hosting a banquet for your birthday!" said Heather excitedly before covering her mouth with her hands. 'Oops,' I read her lips as she looked over at Alex and Michelle apologetically.

"A what?" I asked, still not believing the news.

"A ball and it's okay Heather, we can't keep it a secret forever anyway right?" said Michelle as she smiled at Heather he was flushed a bright red.

"Wait!" I yelled quieting everyone in the room. "What do you mean by hosting a banquet? What kind of a party is this? It sounds like you invited the entire society to it!" I asked somewhat furious that they didn't check with me before deciding such things.

"Sere, you need to become acquainted with society again, you can't keep running away from them. It's best to get on their good side so they don't go digging through your past for dirt to throw in your face again," said Trista in a calm voice.

"She's right you know," jumped in Alex, hoping to convince me that this was a good idea even though they all knew how much I despised social gatherings.

"Fine, but don't blame me if I don't have fun and take it all out on the entire company the following day or days!" I announced before walking briskly out of the room. I didn't want to tell them to call off the event because I knew they had obviously gone through great lengths to set it all up. So I will go through with the banquet and make them happy so that I could be happy as well. I went straight back to the hotel for my appointment with the masseuse to relax my body for what was waiting for me the next morning. After my long massage I stopped by the hotel spa and got the full package to pamper myself.

Next day

Waking up at 5 am in the morning was not my sort of thing, so I tapped the snooze button a few times before finally deciding to get up half an hour later. I glanced over to my right and saw Andrew sleeping soundly so I decided to leave a note so he wouldn't worry when he woke up to find me not there.

Andy,

I have to head out early to get ready and meet everyone up, hope you slept well. I'll see you and Keith at my parents' house tonight. Have lots and lots of fun! Love, Your One & Only

'He looks so peaceful,' I thought as I slid the note onto my pillow and brushed some hair away from his eyes. Placing a kiss on his forehead, I went into the restroom to wash up and get dressed for my inevitable conference with the devil himself. I picked out a black Armani dress suit with white trim around the hemlines and small bow at the midsection. 'Now what to wear with this?' I thought while perusing through my closet for a pair of heels to go with my outfit. Sliding into a pair of black Charles David with open toe/heel I walked over to double check my decision. "Cool, I match!" I laughed as I noticed the white trim around the heels. Anyway, to make a long story short, I wrapped my long hair up into a bun and secured it with a clip then applied some make-up and grabbed my briefcase and blazer on my way out of the hotel suite.

"Hey Sere, we were beginning to think you were still asleep!" I heard Alex call out as I stepped out of the elevator and slid my reading glasses on before looking at anyone. He laughed as I adjusted my glasses and sent a glare in his direction.

"Okay, now that we are all here. Does everyone have everything they need?" asked Michelle, smoothing out a few wrinkles on navy blue skirt suit.

"I'm pretty sure my wonderful team has everything, lets go," I announced and walked out the lobby towards the cars parked out front.

"Are you nervous?" asked Trista quietly as she slipped into the car beside me. I shrugged and looked over the papers in my briefcase as I notice Heather get into the car form the corner of my eye.

"Hey Rena, we'll see you there. Relax and don't forget to breathe okay?" reminded Alex as he shut the door for us and tapped the car to let the driver know we were ready to depart. Alex and Michelle were riding with my personal secretary in the car behind my car and everyone else was in the last car.

Conference

"Hi, I'd like to welcome you to the Shield Corp./Moonlight Fashions Inc. conference. Please get situated into the seating area so that we may start shortly," said the coordinator. All the reporters started filing into the huge conference room and finding their seat while the cameramen started lining up along the sides of the room as the two companies started filing in one by one. Darien walked in and took one look around before sending the female reporters a sexy smile for the pictures.

"I think it's bad for you to entice those women when you know it'll bite you in the ass when you fuck up," whispered Michael, reminding Darien not to get on the press' bad side, otherwise all of his issues would show up in the news one day.

"It can't hurt to smile, I mean look at them, waiting just to get a single glance from gorgeous men like us," commented Darien, smirking smugly. He sent a wink at one of the reporters who blushed profusely.

"You never change do you Darien Shields?" snapped Alex as he came walking into the room with Michelle directly behind him.

"No, he never does," replied Zack as he strode up to everyone with his briefcase in hand. "Please excuse us," he apologized as he pushed his glasses up and yanked Darien away from Alex before he could say anything that would cause trouble. "Are you ignorant or just plain out moronic?" yelled Zack in a hushed tone.

"Probably both," I answered as I came up behind them with Jason beside me. "But then again, that's just my opinion isn't it?" I corrected myself before Jason could scold me for my rude remark. "Anyway, I just came over to wish you good luck. I hope this press conference goes well," I finally said as I extended my hand out to Darien, inwardly cringing because I had to let him touch me, can you imagine how much of my anti-bacterial hand soap I'll need to use to clean myself afterward?

"Same to you," replied Darien, smirking cockily as if he had won already. "I hope that in the end, we both will win," he added, bending over to kiss my hand.

'Yuck! He kissed it, talk about nasty!' I thought, completely disgusted. "We need to be going," I announced, yanking my hand away from his grasp before he could do anything else to it that might sicken me.

"You know there really is no point to this conference, but since you insisted, we'll pound you into the ground," whispered Jason as he passed by Darien with a slight shove in the shoulder.

"That wasn't necessary," I said to Jason after we had gotten a few feet away from the two men. "What is necessary however, is for someone to kick his ass for kissing my hand!" I whispered while taking out my handkerchief and wiping my hand thoroughly.

"Who kissed your hand?" asked Alex as we came up to the group.

"Darien," answered Jason automatically.

"Jason!" I yelled, whacking his arm for telling Alex.

"I'm going to cut his lips off!" said Alex, rage filling his eyes as he caught glimpse of Darien walking up the stage and taking his seat beside his company associates. "That asshole, the nerve of him," seethed Alex, more quietly this time.

"Calm down Alex, don't get your boxers all bunched up," said Michelle, pulling Alex back a few steps from the stage. "We need to get seated so you calm down before they snap tons of pictures with your face as red as a cherry," she added, hoping that would calm him down before he did anything drastic.

"Okay guys, lets go," I instructed my associates as I glanced over towards Galen and jerked my head towards the stage, letting him know we were going to sit down.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you would kindly quiet down so we could get started with this press conference, I would be grateful," asked the coordinator as he checked the microphone to make sure it was working.

"We'll be starting off with Shield Corp.," he announced right before walking off the stage. Michael got up and headed over to the podium and pulled out some papers before someone lifted a sheet that was covering what looked like charts.

"Hello everyone, my name is Michael Kincaid, vice president of Shield Corporation. I'd like to give you a run of the history of Shield Corp. so you can better acquaint yourself with what we do," began Michael, calm and collected.

'How the heck is he so composed when we're having a head on battle in front of more than a hundred reporters and cameras!' I thought, looking back and forth at the room to see the vast amount of press that had showed up for this conference. "I'm so dead," I whispered to Jason on my right as he squeezed my hand tightly for reassurance.

"You'll be okay," said Galen quietly, who was sitting to my left. Michael went on and on about Shield Corp.' background information and the status of how well their company was doing as of current. I was getting annoyed just listening to the numbers. It seemed like eternity before he stopped yapping and sat back down.

'Thank God,' I thought, feeling grateful that the heavens didn't want to punish me any longer. 'All I have to do now is sit through Darien's boring speech and I can get out of here and back to my family,' I told myself, trying to stay awake and composed.

"Good Afternoon everyone, as you are well aware, I'm Darien Shields the president of Shield Corporation. To refer back to what Michael has told you all about my company, I'd like to add that we have expanded to almost every country in the world and are planning on opening more branches soon," started out Darien confidently. "I feel that a merger between Shield Corp. and Moonlight Fashions Inc. would be a great advantage for the both of us because not only would they be able to open a branch in every nation, but their market field would broaden so much if backed up by my company," he added, turning over and smiling at me.

'If he winks one more time, I'll poke his eyes out,' I mentally noted as I could only smile back because of the cameras pointed at me. I droned out Darien's voice as I thought about how the press would react when the secret was revealed. My life will be completely ruined once word gets out that I am the real president of MFI, they'll never leave us alone after that. "God help me," I silently prayed.

"What's wrong?" asked Galen quietly as he overheard me. He reached over and rubbed my back gently. I sighed and shook my head not wanting the press to notice any sign of fear or uncertainty.

"Nothing, just tired I guess," I whispered, lying only to myself because I knew no one on my team ever fell for my lame excuses.

"If you want to lie and make a scene, than this surely is the place to do it," replied Galen as quietly as possible. It always pissed the boys off when I lied to them, but I couldn't help it because I didn't like it when they worried over me.

"Sorry, just don't wan to get into things right here," I apologized as he gripped my hand tightly. He smiled and patted my hand.

"So in conclusion, I only have one things left to say, my offer still stands if you are willing to accept it Mr. Whittington," said Darien loudly, catching Galen and I off guard. I had completely forgot that he was still speaking, so I had to gather my thoughts before looking out at the cameras again. After Darien finished, he walked back to his chair and took a seat.

"I guess it's my turn," announced Galen, smiling at me as he got up and walked over to the podium. I wished him luck quickly before he left his seat. "Good afternoon everyone, my name is Galen Whittington, representative for Moonlight Fashions Inc. I am responsible for meeting with all companies that have business prepositions for MFI, but that does not mean I am the president," explained Galen, taking a deep breath before everyone in the room could absorb what he had said and realize it.

"What?!" yelled Darien abruptly, slamming his fist on the table and causing the whole room and erupt into chatter. Flashes were going off left and right as the scene played out right before my eyes. I cringed knowing that I would have to get up once Galen finished what else he had left to say.

"That's correct, I am not the president of Moonlight Fashions Inc. because all I ever have been is a representative and board member," Galen responded to the chattering crowd, trying to clear any more questions off their minds before they would start fighting for the floor to inquire about anything else. "Thank you for the chance to explain myself, I leave the floor open for the real president to answer all your questions," finished Galen as he turned around and walked back to his seat beside me. With a wink and a smile, Galen and Jason both stood and pushed me towards the podium.

"What is the meaning to this?!" yelled Darien infuriated with what wasunfolding before his very eyes. I inwardly laughed as I saw his eyes dilate a few centimeters larger than normal size and continued toward the podium, more excited to make him more angry than he already way.

"Hello everyone, how have you all been today?" I asked in a cheery voice. I smiled at the crowd as they all quieted down to listen to what I had to tell them. "As you may have already known, my name is Serena Moon, one of the designers for MFI," I introduced myself even though there was no need. "I'm sure you are all wondering what is really going on here, but that's why I'm here today," I added, smiling brightly at the whole room. "There is a small tad bit of information that you don't know," I explained, taking a deep breath to prepare myself for what I was going to say next. "I'mthepresident/C.E. Inc.," I mumbled so quickly that I myself couldn't make out the words.

"What was that last statement Ms. Moon, I didn't catch that," spoke up a reporter who was sitting in the front row.

"Yes, would you kindly repeat for me as well Serena?" asked Darien, suddenly eyeing my awkwardly.

'Did he hear?' I thought worriedly. 'What's he scheming?' I wondered, my nervousness getting the better of me.

"I heard her loud and clear. She said she was the president of MFI, what more is there to repeat?" said Jason, standing up to back me up a bit.

"Is that true Ms. Moon?" asked another reporter suddenly.

"Yes, is that true?" another reporter jumped it. Soon enough there was a whole bundle of questions being thrown at me from all directions.

"To answer your questions, yes I am," I answered shakily. "I have been the sole person responsible for MFI since the last C.E.O. resigned," I added, getting everything out in the open once and for all. "You are probably wondering how it is all possible, well that is because I am also the adopted daughter to Mr. Richard Moon," I included before anyone else could ask me any more questions. "That's all I can tell you at the moment. To wrap this entire conference up, I'd like to reply to Shield Corp.'s offer. No, plain and simple," I finished up with a stern face as I turned and stared Darien directly in the eyes. "I will not be pushed around by other companies just because they feel they are more powerful or have an upper hand. MFI will not stand for any sort of pressure. I, by no means am not trying to ruin Shield Corp.'s reputation; but I do no appreciate being pushed into a corner. I kindly refuse the offer on the table and am asking you to stop bothering my staff with your prepositions because we are doing just fine!" I wrapped up my speech before gathering my bags and turning to exit the stage. The crowd of reporters went wild once I left the podium and walked off stage before they could ask any more questions. "Let's go guys," I ordered my staff quickly as I exited the building and walked quickly towards the cars.

"If you would all calm down please!" asked the coordinator loudly trying to calm the room down before a riot could take place. Darien and his entire team looked back and forth at one another, they were so shocked that not a word left their mouths for a few moments, until Darien stood up and stormed out of the room quickly.

"What the hell just happened in there?" asked Darien angrily as Michael and the boys tried to catch up with him. Getting into their car, they took off before the cameras could chase after them. "Where'd she disappear to so quickly?" he asked, keeping an eye out to see where Serena had gone.

"Her entire staff all left in their cars just a little while ago," answered Zack, not wanting to piss Darien off any more.

"How come no one bothered to tell me that she was the president?!" yelled Darien as he poured a glass of Brandy and drank it all quickly.

"We had no idea, we thought we dug up all the information possible on the staff at MFI. I don't know how this slipped through our search," answered Nathan.

"Could it be possible that they had this all hidden for specific reasons just as the incident that occurred today?" questioned Michael, wondering why their searches ended up back firing in their faces.

"She had this all planned!" yelled Darien furiously.

"Oh my god Sere, did you see the looks on their faces when you told everyone?" laughed Alex as he sat back and finished off his wine glass. We were all gathered in my hotel suite celebrating our victory.

"Yes, it was so worth all the hard work we've been doing just to see him go ten shades of red when you announced you were the true president for MFI," admitted Trista, smiling at me as she sipped on her champagne.

"You know, I thought he was going to blow a gasket," added Heather as we all broke out into a fit of laughter.

"I want to thank you all for being there for me in my time of need. Everyone deserves a huge bonus for all the work you've done these past few weeks," I announced, smiling when I saw everyone's eyes bulge out and they cheered even louder.

"Thank you!" I heard my employees shout as they raised their glasses and toasted to their winnings. I laughed and downed the rest of my white wine before joining the rest of the crowd in the celebrations.

"Okay guys, we have the rest of the day off so everyone rest up, I need to go see my family," I let everyone know as I slipped back into my jacket and heels. "Don't drink too much and have fun!" I said before shutting the door and heading down to the lobby to wait for the driver to pull the car up front for me. Pulling out my cell phone, I dialed Andrew's number quickly.

"Hey honey," replied Andrew sweetly on the other end of the line. "How is the conference going so far?" he asked curiously.

"It's over already," I replied, glancing out quickly to see my black Benz being pulled up into the driveway. "All I have to say is that it was one interesting conference," I added, laughing as I recalled the previous moments from this afternoon.

"Why, what happened?" asked Andrew, chuckling at my giddiness.

"Darien got so pissed," I whispered as I walked out to the car and slid into the back seat. 'To my parents' house,' I mouthed to my driver as he shut the door and nodded, driving towards my old house. "Anyway, I'll see you and Keith in a bit okay?" I told him quickly.

"Okay, see you in a bit then," replied Andrew as he hung up with me. "Bye," I replied and closed my cell phone before putting it back into my handbag. "Hey Henry, can you stop by the liquor store and grab me a bottle of Remy Martin XO v.s.o.p.?" I buzzed over the intercom and asked my driver.

"Sure thing miss," answered Henry as he continued driving. After picking up the bottle of liquor for me, we headed over to my parents' house so I could surprise everyone and celebrate for the remainder of the night.

Tsukino House

"Mrs. Tsukino, Serena just called and said she is on her way over right now," Andrew told Sere's mom, who smiled brightly.

"Mama is coming to get us?" asked Keith with his mouth full of cookies.

"Keith! What have I told you about talking with your mouth full young man?" scolded Ken as he shook his head at his grandson.

"To no talk while I eat grandpa, I'm sorry," Keith apologized sadly.

"Its okay son, grandpa was just reminding you not to do that, just don't forget next time okay?" comforted Andrew, laughing at his son's face as he wiped the cookie crumbs off his mouth and chin.

"Hi everyone!" I called out, closing the front door and looking around for familiar faces. Not seeing anyone, I wondered into the kitchen and found everyone sitting around the table talking and laughing. "There you are!" I said, smiling at them.

"Hi Serena," greeted my mom, running over to hug me quickly.

"Hi mom," I replied, kissing her cheek as I went over and hugged my dad and kissed his cheek as well. "Hey daddy," I whispered, stilling holding onto him.

"What about me mama? You didn't say hi to me," asked Keith, pouting.

"No I didn't," I replied and scooped him into my arms and kissed him all over. "Did you miss me?" I asked before putting him back down.

"Of course he did, we both did," Andrew said before Keith could reply. He walked over and hugged me tightly. "We're glad you're done with work because we didn't have any fun without you, right kiddo?" he added, looking down at Keith who just nodded quickly in agreement.

"Yeah, right. You know you boys were having a field day without me around to lecture you," I teased and we all laughed. After a short while of catching up with my parents I told them what had happened at the conference and we all celebrated my revelations as the president of MFI. For the remainder of the night, we just sat around talking and planning things for my birthday banquet.

"Mama, you'll never guess what I got you!" said Keith excitedly.

"I wouldn't want to guess because it's supposed to be a surprised remember honey?" I told my son, laughing as he pouted because I wasn't playing along.

"She's right sport, we don't want her guessing what we bought her, otherwise we don't get to see the look on her face when we show her," added Andrew.

AN

That's all everyone, I hope you all enjoyed the final chapter in this long story. I made it extra long just to satisfy everyone because I haven't posted in a long time. Keep in mind, an epilogue is due to tie up the rest of the loose ends in this story.


	22. The Banquet

Author's Note

Sorry it's been so long since I've last posted, but so much has happened in my life that I just couldn't keep up with everything. I've had so many problems going on in my life that it's absurd to even imagine how I actually pulled through it.

(1) I got diagnosed with PCOS, something every girl is afraid to hear. (2) I had to visit the emergency room numerous times. (3) My grandmother, whom had Lung Cancer, had a heart bypass while I was in the emergency room so I couldn't be there with her. (4) I had to go into surgery to remove scar tissue and in the middle of that my appendix decided it wanted to explode so I had an emergency appendectomy as well, which caused me even more down time from life. (5) My grandmother passed away on the same week that I had my surgery done, which delayed my recovery even further.

Chapter XXII: The Banquet

"Well, I was going to tell you about daddy's gift too, but I guess that's supposed to be a surprise too!" replied Keith as he held a finger up to his lips and laughed at my shocked look. He ran off to play before I could reach down and tickle him.

"So, what's this I hear about a gift?" I turned around and questioned Andrew curiously. I noticed that he started to slowly edge away from me and quickly latched onto his arm before he could make a run for the nearest exit.

"Oh, no. I don't think so missy, you're not getting anything out of me," replied Andrew as he backed up against a wall.

"Aw, why not sweetie?" I asked sweetly, batting my eyes repeatedly.

"What on earth are you two doing?" interrupted my father suddenly.

"Thank you so much for rescuing me Mr. Tsukino," said Andrew with a sigh of relief as he hurriedly ran pass my grasp and into the living room with everyone else.

"Hey!" I cried, crossing my arms and pouting.

"It's a surprise bunny, don't ruin it for them honey," explained my father in a hushed tone as he pulled me in and squeezed me tightly.

"I know daddy, I was just teasing," I answered with a big smile. We spent the rest of the nigh celebrating and talking amongst ourselves as Keith finished watching 'Finding Nemo' in my parents' brand new entertainment room.

Next Morning at Hotel

"So Michelle, what exactly are our plans for this big banquet?" asked Alex as he stretched his arms back and yawned.

"Well, I rented out the ballroom and dining hall at the Starlight Towers for tomorrow night," answered Michelle as she looked over the guest list.

"Who all is attending this thing?" interrupted Trista from the doorway of their adjoined suites. Alex and Michelle both looked over to see Trista and Heath both standing there with a tired look on their faces.

"Well, I'm not quite done with the guest list. Would you care to look it over and tell me who I'm missing?" asked Michelle quietly as she took her glasses off and leaned backwards to relax her back.

"Sure, I think I have and idea of who all needs to be there after our guest of honor and her loved ones," answered Trista.

"I can tell you all the girls are expecting to be on the V.I.P. list that's for sure," interrupted Heather in a cheerful tone. When she said girls, she wasn't referring to Serena's friends; she meant all the top models of Moonlight Fashions Inc.

"Well, I wasn't quite sure which ones were attending, so I left two tables empty for them," replied Michelle quietly.

"I'll give Galen a call and he can let the girls know about it," said Alex, walking over to the kitchen to brew up some coffee for everyone.

"Good morning everyone!" greeted Leah in a bubbly mood. Leah Jacobs, the youngest model in MFI, not to mention one of the famous Jacobs triplets.

"When did you get here Leah?!" screamed Heather as she ran over to hug her, jumping up and down in excitement.

"I just got here this morning," Leah answered plopping down in the chair beside Michelle. She glanced over at the list and mentally nodded at the few names that she recognized. "Oh yeah, Lexxie is flying in tonight around six o'clock," she added while resting her feet on the nearest ottoman she could find.

"Oh good, Rena will be thrilled to see her!" exclaimed Heather happily.

"Yeah, she's been rather stressed since you girls have last seen her," agreed Alex silently from his seat.

"Do you know if any of the other girls are free for a birthday banquet?" Michelle asked curiously still penning in the names on invitation cards.

"I spoke to them this morning before I left for the airport, as far as I know, all the girls intend on surprising Rena the night of her birthday," Leah answered tiredly.

"All right then, I'll have them R.S.V.P. with the hotel so they can get in without any trouble then," replied Michelle setting the invitations aside to finish her drink.

"So have you gotten a gown for the ball yet?" asked Trista.

"Actually, I was hoping I could just sport one of the new gowns from the winter line, I mean we can get all the publicity we need right?" thought Leah with a slight grin on her face.

"Hey that wouldn't be such a bad idea!" jumped in Alex suddenly. "If we could get all the top models in the industry to attend, each appearing in one of our exclusive new gowns, they would show up in every magazine around the world. What better way to show off Rena's talent?" he added with a satisfied smirk.

"That's stupid Alex, can you imagine what people are going to think? They'll think that we're trying to take advantage of the free publicity, it'll be shameless!" retorted Michelle before going back to her invitations.

"I agree but that doesn't mean that some of our top models can't wear some of our most prized designs to the ball," Heather put in her own thoughts as well.

"I know, why don't we decide who gets to wear what and how many dresses can show up together at the party," thought Leah excitedly. "Of course, we all know that I get first choice to any dress I want," she added quickly.

"You know what, it would be kind of quirky if we had 'Triple L' wear gowns from three of Rena's top lines," interrupted Alex suddenly.

"Oh, I'm liking that idea," Trista jumped in as well. Every time 'Triple L' made an appearance, they got the most spotlight over any other girls.

"That's great, but how are we going to convince Lana to go along with the idea? You know how she hates abusing 'Triple L' for such exposure," rebutted Alex.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Lana called and said she's not missing out on Rena's birthday for anything in the world. So she'll be attending the ball, but I don't know how you're going to get my sister to agree to such a crazy idea," explained Leah as she got up, grabbed her luggage and headed towards the door. "I'll leave the scheming out to you geniuses, I have an appointment with the salon down stairs to get everything touched up for the ball tomorrow night, see you guys!" she added before shutting the door behind her. 'Now, what should I get for Rena's birthday gift?' pondered Leah while walking towards the elevators.

"That girl, the least she could have done was call Lana and ask her for us!" cried Alex restlessly. He fidgeted back and forth before pulling out his cell phone. "Hey Galen, we need a favor," he started out telling Galen about everything.

"Maybe Galen can help us out," prayed Michelle while pulling out her floor plan of where all the tables would be set up and who would be sitting with who and where. "Hey Trista, do you think the girls would be upset if I didn't let them sit up front near Rena and all the attention?" she joked.

"You know damn well what that is going to cause," answered Trista.

"Don't be so mean Michelle, you do know that Trista and I have to sit near the girls at all times don't you?" added Heather with a frown on her face. "You wouldn't make us sit with a bunch of crazed models now would you?" she asked, almost begged, fearing what the girls might do.

"I'm just kidding, I know how badly our girls love the attention, they'd probably all walk out on us then quit by midnight if I placed them towards the back with all the snobby elites," laughed Michelle.

"That wasn't very funny!" replied Heather, crossing her arms and turning away from Michelle who by now was laughing hysterically.

"Anyway, here is a chart of where everyone will be seated. Why don't you look it over and tell me if I should make any changes okay?" Michelle told Heather before setting the parchment down in front of her and Trista. "I'm going to take a little break to call and check up on the orders I've placed for the ball tomorrow night," she added

"Oh yeah, Galen says don't forget to call and ask about his rose orders," added Alex, covering the receiver end of his cell phone.

"What roses?" asked Michelle with a confused look on her face.

"Here, let him fill you in," replied Alex, handing the phone over to her.

"Galen? Hey, what's this I hear about you ordering roses without me knowing?" asked Michelle curiously.

"Hey Michelle, nice to hear from you too darling," replied Galen while laughing slightly. "Oh and about the roses, I placed an order just a few hours ago, but I want you to double check it for me. You know how lavender roses are Rena's favorites, well, I ordered about 100 long stem roses to be placed on vases all around her seating area," he explained briefly. "One more thing before you go though, do you think you could draw up an arrangement plan for them?" he asked.

"Sure, no problem Galen," answered Michelle quietly over the phone. "I'll see you tomorrow night mister," she said before tossing the phone back to Alex and walking out the door. "I expect to see everyone down at the ballroom tonight to help me finalize last minute preparations!" she ordered before the door slammed shut.

Ballroom

"Good afternoon Miss Michelle," greeted the hotel manager, Mr. Tanaka.

"Hi Mr. Tanaka, I'm just down here to check on how the arrangements are fairing," replied Michelle, entering the ballroom and glancing around. Tables were set up in the center of the room right in front of the stage where all the entertainment would be performed. A rather large dancing floor was laying to the right of the tables and there was lavender tulle wrapped around the pillars surrounding the entire ballroom. Decorating the ceilings were yards and yards of white and lavender chiffon, cascading from the center of the room down the walls and doorways, creating a tent-like theme. In one corner of dance floor there was a waterfall with little angel statues shooting water into the air and a stream flowing from the top into the floor-level pond. On the left side of the room a place was set up for the string quartet that had been hired for the occasion and the bar was located opposite to that area along another corner of the ballroom.

"I hope everything meets your wishes madam," Mr. Tanaka spoke up with a smile. He looked over the room once more while a few of his employees were setting up the rest of the tables. Twenty-five tables covered in white satin sat in the middle of the room with a floating candle centerpiece sitting in the center of each table with eight chairs covered in lavender fabric knotted in the back with a satin ribbon. Directly above the tables, a beautiful chandelier hung off the ceiling, shining prisms of light in every direction of the room. A light show was set up around the dance floor as well as a fog machine to mist up the room for a romantic affect.

"It's perfect, I'm sure Rena will be mesmerized. Thank you for all the effort you and the hotel staff has put into this special occasion," answered Michelle with a smile plastered on her face as she continued starring at the decorations.

"Well, thank you so much for the compliments madam," replied Mr. Tanaka. "Am I to assume that the floral arrangements have been made?" he added, just now noticing the lack of flowers.

"Now that you mention it, we've ordered a shipment of roses that should arrive at any moment. Would it be okay if we were to take up some of your cooler space to store them until we're ready to finalize the details? That way we can have fresh floral arrangements tomorrow night," asked Michelle hopefully.

"Of course, anything that you shall need is yours for the taking miss," responded Mr. Tanaka quickly. "Will you need any assistance with the arrangements?" he added curiously.

"No that won't be necessary, that is what we're here for after all, isn't that right Michelle?" interrupted Alex's voice from the main doorway with a smile on his face. Following shortly behind him were Trista, Heather, Rachel, Laura, and last but not least Galen, the coordinator of the banquet himself.

"Hello, how is everyone?" greeted the manager after his brief moment of shock. Everyone smiled and waved their hand in a 'so-so' motion. "Shall I leave you all to your planning then?" he asked courteously.

"Yes, we should be getting down to business," answered Galen suddenly. "Thank you so much for all the help you've offered with our last minute plans, we greatly appreciate your hospitality," he thanked the manager while shaking hands with him before letting him be on his way. "Okay guys, shall we start rearranging stuff?" he asked with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"So how we are we going to arrange the floral centerpieces when we have no flowers to work with?" replied Alex pointing around the empty ballroom. Just as he finished his sentence, a string of deliverymen walked into the room carrying several vases of roses and other supplies for all the floral arrangements.

"I suggest we each design our own for each individual table, that way we have a variety of arrangements," Michelle spoke up already walking towards the supplies and setting it on one of the tables.

"Sounds great, why don't we get started then?" replied Galen enthusiastically. "I'm going to go talk with the chef about the dinner menu okay? Good luck with the flowers guys!" he cheered the group on before walking out the ballroom and into the adjoined kitchen. After about an hour or two, there were twelve beautiful flower displays decorating the top of the twelve tables.

"So what else do you have planned for us to do?" asked Alex tiredly taking a seat and letting out a deep breath.

"We're finished with everything, just have to see how the food turns out so we can all decide on with entrées to select," answered Michelle happily.

"Okay, I hope everyone is up to a food tasting!" announced Galen merrily as he and several waiters walked out from the kitchen with samples of different dishes that would be served at the dinner. After everyone tried each dish, they all took a vote on which one would suit the occasion best and all agreed on a seven dishes along with an extravagant dessert and savory soup. "Well, on behalf of Sere, I'd like to thank the hotel and everyone who has lent a helping hand to make this wonderful event come to life," Galen thanked everyone before they all got up to go their separate ways.

"One more thing before you go gallivanting off, please be sure to be dressed and ready for the banquet at least half an hour before it begins so that I can have everything in order when Rena arrives back at the hotel," interrupted Michelle as everyone was filing out of the ballroom. In response, all she got was a round of grumbles.

Andrew's Loft

It was beginning to get dark outside and here I was still going through my luggage trying to figure out what to wear to my banquet. 'God, I'll never find a gown at this rate!' I screamed to myself throwing clothes everywhere in Andrew's spacey walk-in closet. "Andy, I need your opinion on something babe!" I called out loudly.

"What is it Sere?" answered Andrew, still huffing from running up the stairs so quickly. I laughed and got up to place a kiss on his cheek. "Wow, if I get a kiss every time I race to your every beck and call then what do I get for cleaning the house every now and then?" came Andy's remark.

"Oh shush you, this is important though. Which gown takes your breath away more?" I asked quietly, holding up two gowns for him to see. One was a low cut black chiffon gown that was slightly form fitting at the bust and flared out at the ankles, tying around the neck with a plunging back. The other was a lavender satin gown with three-inch straps that hung a little off the shoulder, it was form fitting with a short train and had an empire bust line with a string of ribbons wrapping around the bust and hanging down from the center.

"Can I at least get a visual?" he asked with a silly grin on his face.

"No! Now answer my question or you'll be spending the night with Keith," I retorted tossing one of his socks at him.

"Okay, for my eyes, I like the black one because you're showing off all that creamy luscious skin of yours. For everyone else's eyes, I'd prefer to see you in the lavender gown so I won't have to pound anybody for gawking at my girl," answered Andrew honestly. I sighed not knowing what to do, on one hand I wanted to look sexy and beautiful, on the other I did not want the love of my life to beat the crap out of all my guests, oh what is a girl to do in this kind of situation!

"I guess I'll go with the lavender, I think I can still make a few changes to it so that I can still stand out," I replied quietly. Andrew smiled and leaned down to gently kiss me on the lips, only it got a little too steamy and he almost fell over as I tried to pull him in closer to me. "Are you sure I can't wear the black one? It's a lot easier to get out of at the end of the night," I half told half teased him with a seductive smile on my face.

"Yes baby, I am pretty sure, otherwise I'd rip it right off your body half way through the evening," replied Andrew quietly. I laughed and pushed him away as I got up and hung the gown up so I could take a quick look at it to think of any other changes I could do to make the gown more couture.

"Okay, so how about I redo the straps to be lavender and white Swarovski crystals and wrapped chiffon around to the bust line with the ribbons, then I can swing the train around the front and attach it to my left ring finger. And for jewelry, I can wear my diamond chandelier earrings and the new platinum necklace I designed with a lavender pendant," I rambled on about my outfit.

"Don't you think you're getting a little too worked up baby?" asked Andrew, shocked at how fast I was speaking about gown designs.

"No! This is my first birthday as a designer in Tokyo, I have to look spectacular otherwise the media will think little of my future lines!" I half argued, pouting from my position at the floor of my gown.

"Okay, I'll just leave you alone then," replied Andrew, bending over and kissing the top of my head before leaving me alone in the closet. I spent the next two hours re-designing my gown. After I finished, I headed back outside to find my two special men asleep on the couch with a movie still playing. I smiled and crept quietly past them into the kitchen to prepare dinner. I made bow tie pasta with my specially marinated chicken and a creamy butter sauce with a hint of cheese blended in with broccoli, red bell peppers, mushroom, and zucchini all tossed in. After I finished, I set the table and snuck over to wake my men with a kiss on the forehead and ruffled their sandy locks a little.

"Hey," replied Andrew groggily. "You finished with your little creation in there?" he asked curiously, smiling as I playfully smacked him.

"Shut up, dinner is ready dork," I laughed wiping Keith's face with a wet wipe. "Are you hungry baby?" I asked my son as he quietly nodded.

"I'm starving!" replied Andrew as I shook my head and helped Keith get into his seat beside me. "Oh, you weren't asking me? I'm hurt," he laughed as I poured Keith some juice and placed a linen napkin on his lap.

"Just be quiet and eat. Make sure you drink all your juice okay honey?" I reminded Keith as he nodded and started eating. I giggled and sat down to eat as well. We all ate and joked around before cleaning up for the night.

"You should get to bed, we have a big day tomorrow," suggested Andrew as he caught me glancing at my gown yet again. I laughed and got up before tackling him onto the bed and kissed the day lights out of him.

"You should be thanking me for making it look so hot, you'll be the envy of every man in the room tomorrow night!" I teased in between kisses.

"I thank you every day for being in my life," he replied before giving me a passionate kiss. After that we just held each other before falling asleep.

June 30th

"Good morning mama!" yelled Keith at the top of his lungs while jumping up and down on my bed, disturbing me from my peaceful slumber. It was six in the morning and my son was already awake, sometimes I wonder who he got it from.

"Tell your son to go back to sleep," muttered Andrew from under the covers. I laughed and swatted him as he hid under his pillow.

"Hey, he's your son too! Besides, today he's your responsibility because I have to get ready for my party," I replied before rolling over and going back to sleep.

"Dad!" screamed Keith after pouncing Andrew. I laughed from my place on the bed, I wasn't tired anymore but I wanted to see how far Andy would let this go before giving in to our son's pleas.

"Okay, I'm up squirt. I'll bet you're hungry, that's why you just had to wake us up right?" Andrew finally gave in and got out of bed, slipping into his robe and lifting Keith in his arms. He smacked my bottom over the covers before leaving the room, causing a fit of giggles to erupt afterwards.

"That's what you get for getting drunk and not keeping your hands to yourself baby!" I laughed before rolling out of bed as well. I stretched and put on my silk robe and slippers before trudging over to the bathroom. Reaching down I filled my tub with warm water and poured some Victoria's Secret Endless Love Shower Gel into the water so I could soak in it for a bit before my real shower. 'Now, what am I going to do with my hair and make-up?' I asked myself curiously before laying my robe on an ottoman in front of my vanity. I took off my slippers as my nightgown fell to the floor before I slid into the warm bubble bath.

"You know, you should have locked the door honey. What if Keith walked in while you were undressing?" asked Andrew, scaring me because I hadn't even noticed he was in the bathroom.

"Don't do that!" I scolded him as he walked over and kissing the top of my head. "Where is Keith and since when were you in here anyways?" I asked curiously, eyeing him as he sat down and watched me bathe.

"Keith is brushing his teeth as he speak. I made some breakfast for him already so you don't have to worry about our little pig starving," answered Andrew with a chuckle as I threw some bubbles at him.

"He's not a pig!" I laughed, knowing full well that he was referring to the bottomless stomach he inherited from me.

"Anyways, I think I got in here right when the nightgown dropped. It was a really sexy sight by the way," added Andrew with a wink.

"You sneaky little peeping tom," I replied with a smile. "If you want a show, you just have to ask, no need to go sneaking around baby," I teased in a husky voice.

"Is that an invitation?" came Andrew's shocked reply. One of his eyebrows propped up over the other as he looked at me questioningly.

"It's whatever you want it to be," I answered while washing my body with a towel. After about five minutes I rinsed off all the soap and got up from the tub, draining all the water out before heading over the shower. "Coming?" I asked before slipping into the shower stall. I smirked and turned the water on as I heard Andrew's clothes hurriedly thrown on the bathroom floor. "Amazing how fast you can undress when you want to," I laughed as he came up behind me.

"Well, when you have a naked goddess in front of you, there is no time to think twice baby," answered Andrew as he pulled me in and kissed me passionately. I think we were in there for about half an hour before it got a little too hot for me.

"I think that's enough, I'm all wrinkly now Andy," I whined showing him my fingertips. He sucked on my finger and kissed my lips before turning the water off.

"Come here," said Andrew as he lifted me in his arms and walked out of the shower stall. He threw one of our terry towels on the floor and laid me down before taking me there in the bathroom. I swear I was praying that Keith had the television on while he was eating because you could hear moans left and right coming from our bathroom. After, oh I don't know anymore, an hour I guess, we came out of our bedroom completely dressed to eat breakfast.

"That was a long shower mama," came Keith's reaction as he looked at the time.

"Sorry sugar, daddy was bothering mommy while she took her bubble bath," I answered sheepishly. Andrew laughed as I started blushing at my own son's comment because we both knew that Keith most likely knew what we were doing

"Mama, you don't have to lie to me, I think it would be cool to have a baby sister of brother," Keith replied casually, getting up to put his plate up and walking out to the living room to watch cartoons. I swear my eyes almost popped out of their sockets after that comment. Andrew just broke down and laughed as I turned beet red.

"That's not funny, we shouldn't be letting him hear these things Andy!" I whispered seriously.

"He's bound to hear it sooner or later Sere," answered Andrew not caring too much that our son had overheard our little escapade.

"God, I'll never here the end of this now," I complained, burying my face in my hands as Andrew got my breakfast ready.

"Just eat so you can get ready for tonight already," laughed Andy as I glared at him. He was right though, I had an appointment with my manicurist to get my nails touched up. I had to have my fingers and toes look their best on my special day. I was going for a more natural look so I decided to just get a French manicure.

"Is Keith's tux in his room? I don't think I'll be able to dress him if I don't know exactly what you want him to wear," asked Andrew as we ate.

"Yeah, his shoes are next to his dresser and the tux is hanging on his closet door. Make sure you do his hair really cute too," I instructed him before getting up to do the dishes and straighten up the kitchen.

"Hey, he'll look just like me so you have nothing to worry about," answered Andrew with a sexy smile.

"That's what I'm afraid of," I replied and laughed when Andrew had a shocked look on his face. "I'm just kidding honey, he'll be gorgeous I'm sure," I added, kissing him lightly on the lips. After cleaning up the kitchen, I bid my boys goodbye and good luck before leaving for the hotel's private salon. I got my nails done and headed over to the spa to get a quick facial to relax my pores before applying my own make-up.

I think I got out of the spa at three or four in the afternoon, so I headed back to my suite, finding it empty because the boys had already left from what Andrew had discussed with me about their schedule earlier during the morning. I decided on a dark plum and metallic white combination for my eye shadow, some mascara and eyeliner, a nude-rose lip liner on with lip-gloss coated on top for shine, and finally a touch of light blush on top of my face powder.

"Rena, you in here?" I heard Alex call out from the living room of my suite.

"In here Alex!" I yelled from my bathroom. I was already in my gown but had my robe over it so I wouldn't get any make-up on it while I finished getting ready. Like I had discussed with Andrew the previous night, I had altered my gown to have crystal shoulder straps and a layer of white chiffon on top the lavender satin that opened in the front with lavender satin ribbons tied around the bust line and hanging down from the center of the bust. I basically altered the gown so much that it was an entirely different gown in the end.

"Looking nice Rena," compliment Alex as he walked into the bathroom to find me sitting at the vanity.

"Hey Rena, you almost ready?" asked Michelle, stepping out from behind Alex's huge body. She gawked at my gown and had me do a complete spin for her. "Oh my god, is that the same gown from the line?" she asked shocked still.

"Yeah, I did the alterations last night," I answered bashfully.

"I almost didn't recognize if it the chiffon didn't move to reveal the lavender underneath it," replied Michelle with a smile. "It's even more beautiful now," she added, lightly touching my gown to inspect it further more.

"Yeah, this is my special design for tonight," I told them proudly.

"Aw, and here I was thinking maybe you got started on your next line of gowns already," pouted Alex jokingly. "Just kidding, so how much longer do you have?" he asked while taking a look at his watch. I glanced over at my own clock and noticed the time it read.

"Oh My God, it's already 6 o'clock!" I shouted in extreme shock. I rushed around the bathroom trying to clean up a bit while removing all the curlers from my hair so I could pull some of the ringlets on top back and pin them down.

"Calm down Rena, I'll help you with your hair. We still have another hour before you have to arrive at the banquet," announced Michelle in a soothing voice, which helped me ease up a little.

"Oh, can you pin in some accessories for me too?" I asked as I pointed at the plastic container that held the fresh lilacs which I had ordered from the florist. Then I handed Michelle a few tiny strings of sheer white ribbon so she could entwine them into my ringlets. Alex laughed and leaned back against my closet door to watch as Michelle pulled the side ringlets back to cross over the ones I had pinned down to cover them. So in the end, I had half of my ringlets pulled back and the other half flowing freely behind my back with one of two ringlets handing loose around my face.

"All done," announced Michelle with a smile as she took a quick glance to make sure everything was holding up okay.

"Thank you so much!" I squealed before grabbing my hand mirror and holding it up to inspect the back of my hair. "Oh, it's perfect! You're the best Michelle, I probably would've never gotten done in time," I added happily.

"So you ladies ready now?" asked Alex nudging his head in the direction of the clock to tell us it was almost time to leave. It was now half an hour before 7 o'clock and I was supposed to be ready to leave but I had yet to find my heels.

"One second, let me go grab my shoes and I'll be on my way down stairs with you guys," I answered before running into my closet to search for the heels I had set aside last night. They were white with straps of diamonds across the toes and crossed over the foot to the heel and around the ankle to buckle at the front. Afterwards, I locked up the suite and headed down stairs to the lobby with Alex and Michelle.

"About time you finished mama," I heard Keith shout from the couch in the lobby. He rushed over dressed in his tux and kissed my cheek as I bent down to hug him. It was the most adorable sight in the world. I originally picked out a white tux for him so that he could match me, but then the thought of him scuffing his white dress shoes scared me so I ended up getting him a black tux with a silver vest and accessories instead. His cuff links were black in the center and had silver trimming, which matched his vest and bow tie, it was the cutest sight in the world.

"You look so handsome!" I squirmed, leaning over and kissing him on the cheeks before ruffling his hair.

"Mom, you'll mess up my hair!" fussed Keith with a pout. I laughed and turned around to see the most gorgeous man on the face of the planet. Andrew was standing there with a rose in his hand and an amazing smile on his face. He had on this sexy white Chinese tuxedo with a silver vest and lavender handkerchief in his left pocket.

"Wow," was all I could utter while my eyes roamed up and down his body.

"Why thank you beautiful," came Andrew husky voice. He kissed me on the lips and wrapped his arms around me. "You look so good right now," he whispered tightening his grip on my hips earning him a poke in the stomach.

"So are we all ready?" asked Galen as he stood there and looked around the lobby at everyone. "We're not missing anybody are we?" he said double-checking for everyone's faces. All the girls were busy talking and complimenting one another that they completely missed the entire spew about heading out.

"Hey! Wait for us!" called out Heather as she grabbed the girls by the hands and ran to catch up with us. Galen and all the boys decided they'd escort all of my lovely ladies into the ballroom before I was allowed to enter.

"We'll see you inside," Alex whispered to me before he and Michelle went in. I nodded with a smile and smoothed out any wrinkles on my gown before linking my arm through Andrew's and held my hand out for Keith.

"Ready boys?" I asked anxiously, winking at Keith before we walked through the double doors. Stepping into the dimly lit ballroom, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust before I took in the sight before me. There were roses everywhere and everything looked so exquisite that my eyes almost began tearing up.

"Happy Birthday!" yelled everyone in the entire room loudly as I smiled and hid my blushing face behind Andrew's shoulder. The room was filled with laughter as everyone saw how red I had turned.

"You know, I never thought you were one to shy away from a crowd Rena," Alex said loudly as he walked over and slipped an Asian lily behind my ear.

"Thank you for coming out everyone, I really appreciate this," I announced to the entire room once I found my voice. With a blushing smile, Andrew escorted me to our table where I sat down to catch my breath.

"A little overwhelming?" he asked quietly with a radiant smile on his face.

"A bit, I wasn't expecting it to look this breath-taking," I answered honestly.

"Mama, everything looks so yummy!" cried Keith as his eyes glazed over with excitement as he stared at my seven tiered strawberry and chocolate mousse cake.

"Dinner first, then dessert," I whispered sternly, earning a big pout from my precious little boy.

"Come on big guy, lets go say hi to your grandparents," Galen interrupted us as he grabbed Keith's hand and pulled him over to the tables where my parents were currently sitting at and waving at us. "He'll be back before the dinner starts, go mingle," he added as they walked away.

"Yes, let's mingle my dear," joked Andrew. I took his awaiting hands and we both toured the entire room as I thanked a few of my closest friends in the fashion industry. As the night started passing by, I found myself tied up with some new faces. "I'll let you two talk while I go get us some drinks," whispered Andrew, kissing me lightly on the cheek as he left me with my guest.

"So what you're proposing is that we do a joint fashion line?" I asked, curious as to where this conversation was heading.

"Somewhat along that lines, I was thinking maybe we could mix our designs," replied Paolo, as I had recalled from his brisk introduction earlier on in the conversation. "I think my new designs for the shrug and boleros would be great with the designs from your city line," he added quickly.

"Why don't you have your secretary send me some sketches and I'll see what I can do from there?" I answered after a few seconds. I'm still iffy when it comes to joint projects, because I risk conflicts and my reputation. I didn't want to turn the man down, but I most definitely did not want him to think it was a done deal.

"Okay, you'll have them by next week," replied Paolo. "Thank you so much for considering my idea," he added happily, shaking my hand before leaving me to myself. I looked around for Andrew but could not find him in sight.

"How's the lady of the evening?" a voice asked me from behind, that voice was all too familiar. I turned around, and whom do I find standing there? Darien Shields. "Shocked?" inquired Darien with a grin plastered on his face.

"Frankly, yes. This event was by invite only. How on Earth did you manage to get past my security team?" I asked, venom literally dripping from my mouth.

"Well, I had connections and I was just lucky enough to be asked to escort one of your guests here," Darien told me as he raised his champagne glass at a lady standing nearby, who only smiled in response, making me feel sick to the stomach.

"I feel sorry for the brainless woman, she obviously doesn't know what she's getting herself into," I replied as I turned and started walking away.

"Don't you think we should talk Serena?" asked Darien, grabbing my hand and spinning me around to face him. "I believe after all those years, I deserve at least five minutes of your time to explain myself," he added, I could see the anger flickering in his eyes at this moment.

"For what? That's all in the pasts, and I'd like to leave it there," I replied bluntly. "Now if you don't mind, I think I should get back to my party and family," I added, trying to pull my wrist out of his hand.

"There you are Sere! I've been looking everywhere for you," called out Andrew from behind me as he walked over to where I was standing in the corner of the ballroom. Just as he reached my side, he noticed who was standing in front of me. "You, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked furiously.

"What does it look like Drew? We're talking," spat Darien angrily.

"Can't you leave her alone once and for all Darien? Can't you see that she's moved on already? Don't you think it's about time you let go and do the same?" Andrew seethed in a hushed tone as to avoid other guests from noticing.

"No, I can't Andrew. You are the one person who should know better than anyone else. I loved Serena with all my heart and soul. I didn't do anything with Raye she threw herself on me. I just wish Serena would listen to me and give me a chance to explain what happened," Darien spilt his heart out quietly. I felt so bad when I heard those words. I could tell he wasn't lying by the sincerity in his voice.

"Darien, I'm sorry I never let you explain. But as I said before, that is all in the past now, I have a new life and I just can't go back to the one I left behind all those years ago," I replied, reaching out and taking hold of Darien's free hand. "Please understand that I've changed, I have a son to think about now, and things just aren't the same anymore," I added. "I will always love you Darien Shields, but you're only holding on to a memory. What we had before was great and I'll never forget it, but you need to move on Darien, because I already have," was my last word to him as he let go of my hand.

"I see," Darien whispered. "I'm sorry I've waste so much of your time, I'll take my leave now," he added before turning to walk away.

"Darien wait! Please stay and celebrate my birthday with us," I called out just as he reached the exit. "We can still be friends right?" I asked, praying that he wouldn't just throw all those years away.

"Yeah, I think I can manage with that," Darien answered with a smile as he bent down and kissed the top of my head. "I guess that is better than not having you in my life," he whispered before walking back to his date for the night,

"I don't know what to say," came Andrew's quiet reply. "I'm still in awe that he took that so well," he added, coming up behind me and engulfing me in his embrace.

"I'm grateful, I didn't want to lose any more friends," I replied, turning around to pull Andrew into a passionate kiss.

"Okay everyone, please take your seats because dinner is starting!" came Mr. Tanaka's voice over the microphone. Andrew and I headed back to our table just as all the guests took their seats. We had a lovely seven-course meal, followed by a few rounds of toasts from various tables across the room.

"Before we bring out the cake, there is one last event we have planned!" announced Galen happily as he signaled for the lights to be dimmed. I looked around the room curiously just as the lights went completely out, causing a quiet gasp to escape from my lips. "Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Andrew Forbes," whispered Galen just as a spotlight came on and fell on our table. My eyes were about ready to fall out of their sockets as I threw a scared look over at Andrew.

'What the hell is going on?' I thought frantically as I looked around the room once more. Finally, I noticed how everyone was smiling and the room was filled with complete silence as Andrew got up and took the microphone from Galen.

"Thanks Galen. Sere, I know you're frightened, but don't worry. There is nothing to worry about. I just have a few things I'd like to say," Andrew told me with his soothing voice and I could already feel myself relax slightly. I looked up at him as he walked back and forth across the stage. "You know everyone, I've known Serena since she was in junior high school. And until this very day, she has remained the same beautiful, lively, most caring person in the world. Sometimes I can't believe how much love she has for everyone, even people who have done her wrong," said Andrew, walking over to take my hand and gentle squeeze it. "She's gorgeous, inside and out, and I would be lost without her," he added, kissing my hand. "What I'm really getting at is…" he began as he let go of my hand and walked away. He walked to the center of the room and I noticed that he was fidgeting with his pockets.

'What could he possibly be nervous about?' I wondered, confusion clearly written on my face as I heard a quiet round of laughter. Just then, Andrew turned around and headed straight back to our table.

"Serena Moon, I would be the happiest man in the world if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife. Will you marry me?" asked Andrew as he got down on one knee and pulled out an exquisite princess cut diamond ring.

'Oh my GOD!' I yelled in my head as I stared down at Andrew on the floor and the ring in his hand, which I could see was beginning to shake nervously. Tears sprang to my eyes and I leapt from my chair into Andrew's arms. "Yes," I whispered in between my sobs as I wrapped my arms around him tightly and cried my heart out. I could not believe that Andrew had just asked my to marry him.

"What?" asked Andrew shakily as he pulled away from me to wipe the tears from my face before they hit the floor.

"Yes!" I yelled loudly now so that the entire room could hear. As soon as those words left my mouth, Andrew wrapped his arms tightly around me and lifted me into the air, spinning me around several times.

"I love you so much," he finally said as he placed me back down on the floor and slid the ring onto my finger. The room erupted in cheers and congratulations as we shared a loving embrace.

"I knew you'd be surprised mama, Happy Birthday!" cried Keith from behind us with a huge grin on his face. I turned around and picked him up, finally, we would be a real family now I thought as I kissed both Andrew and our son on the cheek.

A.N.

So, how was it? Hope you liked it, I know it was a little weird to have Darien settle with being just friends, but I thought it'd be nice to have the sweet Darien back. It's not over yet though, we have one more chapter to this ending and then I'll be done for real this time!


	23. Finally Committed

~* A.N.*~

This took longer than I planned and a lot has changed since I last started this chapter so forgive me if things seem a bit out of whack from the story line. I actually did start on that SM/GW crossover but it still has lots of kinks to work out. In any case, FTSW will be ending soon so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks for the reviews!

~Chapter XXIII: Finally Committed~

I stared down at the ring on my left hand as it shined radiantly back at me, it was a beautiful two karat clear princess cut diamond ring. I smiled and gripped Andrew's hand even tighter as he smiled brightly at me.

"Congratulations!!" shouted everyone in the room after we parted.

"Thanks, I hadn't planned on proposing to Serena until after the party but I just thought there would be no other moment more perfect than right now," replied Andrew proudly as he looked down at me lovingly.

"So, were you shocked Rena?" asked Alex nudging me.

"Yes! I never would've imagined that this would happen," I answered, still taken away by the surprise that was thrown at me. Andrew and everyone looked at me with a confused look on their faces. "I mean, of course I thought of settling down with Andrew, but I thought that would be much later on after things settled down," I added, a blush rising to my already flushed face. It was starting to get hot and it looked like I was the only person feeling that way.

"It's okay Sere, it's understandable with everything that has happened ever since you came back to Japan," Andrew responded, kissing my cheek.

"Yeah, thank God Raye wasn't here to ruin this wonderful moment," Lita retorted out of gist. Everyone laughed loudly in return as I rolled my eyes.

"Who says I'm not here?" announced a voice from the entrance.

'Oh my God, are you kidding me?' I thought exasperated.

"You weren't invited, so I'm kindly asking you to leave," replied Galen with a stern look on his face. Raye laughed in response. "I'm not going to ask you again, I don't want anyone to ruin Serena's birthday," he added in a serious tone that I could tell had gone up a few decibels.

"I'm not here to ruin anything, I'm just here to wish her a Happy Birthday and to congratulate her as well," answered Raye confidently.

"Well, thank you for the well wishes. I appreciate it Raye," I replied quietly, a smile coming to my face. It shocked me that she was actually being cordial with me, or maybe this was all just for show?

"I'm surprised you managed to snag yet another eligible bachelor," Raye blurted out as calm and collected as ever. I looked at her in shock, how on Earth can you waltz into a private party and give the hostess hell and still look like everything was cool?

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked while trying to remain calm. 'To hell with it, might as well get this over with,' I figured.

"Well, I'm just stating the obvious. When we were younger you snatched Darien away from me, now you have Andrew. So I'm just congratulating you, it takes a true woman to get the two top bachelors in Japan to fall head over heels in love with her," Raye answered snidely.

"Stop this right now Raye!" yelled Darien from behind me. I was surprised that he even spoke up. "You have no right coming here just to spite Serena, why don't you just leave. You've done enough damage for a life time," he added angrily. I could see the vein in his temple start to bulge and it was beginning to frighten me since I've never seen this side of Darien before.

"Thanks Darien, but I can handle this on my own," I spoke up, placing a hand on Darien's shoulder to calm him down before things got worse.

"You're finally able to stand up for yourself now? I guess you have changed after all," laughed Raye. I walked up to her and looked her straight in the eye.

"Yes Raye, I've changed in more ways than one. Sorry I can't say the same for you, you're still the same bitch that I forgot all those years ago," I said proudly.

"That is one thing I don't deny," laughed Raye.

"Aren't you satisfied? What more can you take from me? You broke Darien and I up over 5 years ago, isn't that enough Raye?" I asked tiredly. I was beginning to get annoyed with her self-righteous attitude. I just got engaged and it was my birthday for Christ sake! "If you didn't come to celebrate my birthday with me, then you should just leave. I don't owe you anything and I'm fed up with all these childish antics," I stated and turned to walk away before I had the urge to smack her.

"It's not my fault you couldn't satisfy your man Serena," Raye spoke up as I got to my table and reached for my chair. The entire room had been quiet the entire time and I could tell they were all watching our every move.

"You're right, it's not your fault. I don't deny that you won when it came down to Darien, but as you can see there is nothing wrong between Andrew and I," I replied mockingly before taking my seat and smiling at her.

"Well, you did have a kid with him," Raye added rolling her eyes.

"I'm not ashamed of being a single mother or having a child out of wed lock, so I don't see why my life is of any concern to you. Or are you that envious of my happiness that you'll say anything just to make me look bad?" I questioned curiously.

"Why would I ever be jealous of you?" asked Rayed, her eyes flaring up with anger. "You're not perfect you know," she added in a hushed tone. Was I actually getting to her? It sounded as if I had struck a nerve, and that pleased me to no end.

"Sure sounds like you're jealous," Alex snorted with a chuckle.

"Raye, why don't you just leave Serena alone? She has never done anything to bother you, so why are you trying so hard to make her life miserable?" asked Amy with her timid voice. She sounded scared, but in a way tired of being scared.

"Nobody here is happy with your presence. You should take that as a hint that you're not wanted," added Mina sadly. I looked at Mina and knew exactly how she felt. We used to be the best of friends, and look at us now, arguing like cats and dogs. It hurt Mina the most because she loved the bond we shared, and it saddened her to see that we could no longer mend that broken friendship.

"You're all on her side?" asked Raye, her tone of voice suddenly changing. I looked at her curiously, was she finally realizing the extent of our argument?

"Yes Raye, we just don't understand what made you turn on one of your best friends that way," admitted Lita. "We were so close that we all considered one another a sister, and suddenly you changed all of that," she added quietly.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't do anything! Serena just couldn't get what she wanted, so she's upset with me for taking it from her. I can't help it that she's a baby and I'm not going to give her everything likes she's some sort of princess!" yelled Raye, tears forming in her eyes. I sat there and observed the entire confrontation quietly. The girls were all on the verge of tears and Raye was starting to shake. Whether or not it was due to her being angry or upset, I could not tell.

"Is that what you think of her? She's never once expected us to give her anything. Why would you even think of something as ridiculous as that?" Amy asked confused at what they were arguing about.

"I think I know what's going on," interrupted Mina quietly. "You are really jealous of her, aren't you Raye?" she asked as she looked into Raye's eyes to see how she really felt. I turned my eyes over to look as well, and it was as clear as daylight.

"Why Raye?" I whispered without even knowing it.

"Why?" Raye asked furiously. "You always got everything you wanted Serena! Are you blind or just stupidly naïve? Every guy you have ever lusted for has fallen madly in love with you, and all the people around you love you more than anything!" she shouted, tears now running down her face.

"I just don't understand why it would make you hate me this much?" I asked her quietly. I looked at all the girls and they were crying as well. Had our friendship always been this way? Was I truly too naïve to see that Raye had hated me all these years?

"You have never felt the way I have, you've never been alone. You have a family and TWO guys that love you so very much, how could you ever understand how I feel?" Raye shot at me and I was speechless for a moment.

"You're right Raye, I don't know how you feel and I can't say that I understand what you're life is like, but haven't you realized by now that life is what you make it out to be?" I replied casually. I'm not going to apologize to her for living my life. I've been through a lot but I've never once let anyone see how hard it was for me. "Even if I've been through a rough experience, I would still hold my head high and smile at the world, because I don't think it would help the situation to let everyone know my weaknesses," I told her quietly. "I've been through more than you can even begin to imagine Raye, but you will never see me hold a grudge for having a harsh life. That's why everyone says life isn't always easy, you just have to make the most of it," I added with a sigh.

"You make it seem like you're living the high life," Raye said exasperatedly.

"I don't need sympathy from anyone Raye, I refuse to make anyone else suffer alongside with me. So what if your life is hard? Why would you ever wish that upon anyone else? Think about it Raye," was my reply with a shake of the head. "I'm sorry that you had to go through so much, but that's no reason to hold it against me," I added, looking her right in the eye so she would know how sincere I was being.

"How can you live like that?" Raye asked me quietly, returning my gaze.

"You just let go Raye," I told her with a smile.

"Let go?" questioned Raye, unsure of how to react to my smile. I saw her shoulders relax a little and I stood up and walked over to her.

"Yes Raye, just let it go, all of it," I whispered as I brought her into a hug. As soon as we touched, Raye broke down in tears, sobbing quietly. "It's okay Raye," I said, trying to comfort her. Amy, Mina, and Lita walked over to us and we all just stood there holding one another as Raye cried and the girls sniffled quietly.

"I'm sorry," Raye whispered in between hiccups and sobs. "I should have never taken my anger out on you and done all those horrible things to you," she added and I could tell she wasn't lying by looking at her eyes.

"It's okay, what are friends for right?" I laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

"I am happy for you though," Raye added in a hushed tone. I nodded at her to signal that I understood.

"So, we're all good now?" Andrew interrupted our heartfelt moment cautiously. I smiled and left the girls to walk over to him. He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head lightly. "I'm glad you guys are okay again," he whispered.

"Me too," I added quietly with a huge smile on my face.

"So can we have cake now?!" asked Keith suddenly. I had forgotten all about my birthday party so when I looked over to my son I couldn't help but laugh. He was sitting patiently beside the cake with his foot tapping the floor anxiously. I swear it was such an adorable sight, and was inwardly hoping someone caught it on film.

"Okay, time for cake now baby," I replied, heading over with Andrew to cut my cake. The room got quiet once again as candles were lit and they sang 'Happy Birthday' to me. I blew out the candles and made a wish before pictures were snapped left and right. The cake was cut and everyone sat down talking while eating cake and dessert for the next hour. Afterwards, I shared my first dance with Andrew as his fiancée. We danced to 'Where Are You' by Natalie and J. Roman because I had fallen in love with it the moment it was released and thought it suited us.

"Happy Birthday Serena," Andrew whispered into my ear while we danced. I looked up at him and he pulled me in for a sweet kiss. It lingered on my lips for a while and I just stared at him quietly as he smiled at me. "I love you," he added, pulling away to look at me. I could see the love in his eyes and it made me tear up slightly.

"And I you," I responded after finding my voice. "So very much," I added as I leaned into his embrace. Everyone joined us on the dance floor and we all just danced to different types of music for the remainder of the night. Afterwards, Raye and the girls left but not before promising to have lunch with me so we could catch up and talk in a more private place. My parents volunteered to take care of Keith for the night so that Andrew and I could have the night alone. When everything was over and all of the guests had departed, we stayed behind to help the group clean up.

"No, you two go home and rest. Celebrate your engagement alone!" Michelle shooed us as she pushed Andrew and I out of the ballroom with nothing but our coats. I was going to say something when she put her finger on my lips. "Don't worry about a thing. Your gifts will be waiting for you in your suite when you get back, now go have fun," she whispered sweetly before handing a duffel bag to Andrew.

"Thank you Michelle, tell everyone I appreciate this so much. It was a lovely evening and I couldn't ask for better friends," I replied quietly as she hugged me and we left the hotel in my Mercedes.

"So where would you like to go?" Andrew asked, helping me into the car.

"The port," I whispered as he held my hand and drove out of the city. We arrived shortly and headed towards the yacht Andrew had at one of the piers. He grabbed our bags as I boarded the yacht first. After putting our coats away we found a bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice with two glasses beside it waiting for us on the coffee table. "Looks like they were planning this," I whispered with a smile.

"That's nice of them, they seem to know everything before hand," replied Andrew as he popped the cork and poured us some champagne. I'm not going to disclose with you what went on for the remaining part of the night because that's our private life and you'll just have to make due with your own imagination.

"I love you, you know that right?" I whispered to Andrew right before falling asleep in his arms. He kissed me on my temple and pulled me in closer.

"I know honey, and I love you too," stated Andrew before he too succumbed to fatigue. I opened my eyes to watch him sleep for a bit before I really let myself rest. The next morning we headed back to our suite to find all my gifts and flowers overflowing in my bedroom. "Looks like we'll need another suite to store all your gifts," teased Andrew as he slid boxes around to make room for our bags.

"Mama!" greeted Keith as he ran into my arms and kissed me. I looked around to see if anybody else was in the suite but found nobody, which concerned me quite a bit.

"Good morning to you too baby," I replied while returning his kiss. "How long have you been here by yourself?" I asked, looking around once more for precaution.

"Not long, Jason picked me up from nana and papa's house this morning, but had to take a conference call in his room for a few minutes," answered Keith excitedly.

"Oh, okay then. So were you a good boy for nana and papa?" I asked him.

"Of course, I'm always a good boy mama!" answered Keith excitedly.

"Sure you are," I teased before placing him back down and walking into my bedroom to unpack my things.

"Mama!" cried Keith after he heard my comment. "I am a good boy, right?" he asked me, almost uncertain now. I laughed and nodded before returning to my bags. It was moments like these that I loved experiencing. Naivety can be looked upon as a sign of ignorance, but in its purest form, I think it's just another sign of innocence.

"Hey kiddo, how was your night?" asked Andrew as he picked Keith up and placed him on the bed beside my suitcase.

"It was awesome, grandma rented this really cool scary movie and I got to stay up late watching it!" Keith said excitedly. "You should watch it too mama," he added as my face scrunched up at the thought of horror movies.

"No thanks baby, I think I'll pass," I replied, shuddering as my mind wandered to psychopathic serial killers and stalkers lurking about in people's houses unbeknownst to them. "Sometimes I wish you'd watch those cute little kiddy movies, least I won't have nightmares for weeks," I muttered, more to myself than to the boys.

"You're such a chicken mama, they're not real you know!" said Keith as he and Andrew both erupted into fits of laughter. I sent Andrew a glare before stomping off to put my clothes in the hamper.

"Sorry babe, couldn't help myself, he is right though," whispered Andrew, wrapping his arms around me as he placed little butterfly kisses down my neck.

"I know, but you didn't have to laugh at me, meanie," I pouted.

"You know I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," he added, squeezing me lightly.

"That's what they all say," I feigned hurt and pushed him away.

"Are you mad at me mama?" asked Keith quietly as he tugged on my shirt.

"No baby, mommy was just playing around," I answered, hugging him as I ran my hand through his hair to soothe his anxiety.

"Don't worry squirt, we're not arguing," added Andrew, tousling Keith's hair right after I had just fixed it, earning a glare from me. 'Sorry' I saw him mouth with a grin on his face as I swatted him.

"So we're still gonna be a big happy family?" asked Keith, looking up at the both of us, catching us off guard. I had no idea he would ever imagine us splitting up so I didn't even know how to respond to something like that.

"Yes kiddo, a huge family, and we'll live happily ever after," answered Andrew, picking Keith up and slinging an arm over my shoulder as I looked at him confused.

"Good, because I wanna be a big brother!" cheered Keith, smiling so wide I couldn't help but laugh at his comment.

"I don't recall agreeing to a huge family Mr. Forbes," I spoke up, poking Andrew in his side roughly, while smiling at Keith who was still off in his own little world.

"You didn't seem to be complaining last night," replied Andrew, winking at me as my lips opened in shock. I glared at him and prayed to God that our son hadn't heard a word that he had just said.

"Complain about what?" asked Keith curiously. Sometimes I wish he didn't have such a good ear. I pinched Andrew from the side hard before turning to smile at Keith.

"Nothing baby, daddy was just talking about our evening. Isn't that right honey?" I answered sweetly, giving Andrew a stern look so he'd play along.

"Yeah kiddo, just grown up talk," feigned Andrew, shrugging when I gave him a look because he had no idea what he was saying. With a roll of the eyes I headed out to the kitchen to grab some coffee and flipped the TV on to catch the news.

~News~

"According to our sources, a birthday dinner was held for fashion designer Serena Moon at the Hilton hotel last night," announced the anchorwoman.

"That's right Nicole, everyone who was anybody was invited to take part in the lavish occasion," interrupted the anchorman beside her. "There are even talks of a heated dispute as well as possible upcoming nuptials for the secretive C.E.O. of Moonlight Fashions," he added while flipping through the papers in his hands.

"Do we have any info on which eligible bachelor her supposed fiancé might be Robert?" asked the Nicole, with a note of curiosity in her tone.

"Rumor is it that he fathered Miss Moon's child, Keith, who was involved in the custody dispute with Darien Shields some time ago," replied Robert, leaning over to show the anchorwoman his files.

"So there you have it first ladies and gentleman, Andrew Forbes and Serena Moon are said to be engaged as of late yesterday evening," reiterated Nicole before shuffling through her files a bit. "It seems like that's all we have, but we'll keep you updated on any changes involving this huge story," she added, setting her papers down.

"Thank you for joining us, we hope you have a pleasant day and look forward to keeping you up to date with the latest breaking news tomorrow morning," Robert said as soon as Nicole finished. "This is Robert Miyamoto and Nicole Saito of Starlight News, signing off," he wrapped up.

~Myself~

'How on Earth did word spread so fast?' I thought to myself, flipping the TV off and staring off into space as I stood there blowing on my already cool coffee mug.

"Honey?" called out Andrew. "You know how the news is. Don't let it get to you okay?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist as he rested his chin in between the nape of my neck.

"What?" I asked, snapping out of my daze when I heard my cell phone ring. Fumbling around, I tried to recall where I last had my phone hastily before it went to voice mail. "Shoot," I muttered, looking around, beginning to panic as I heard it ring for the third time.

"Mama, your phone!" yelled Keith as he came rushing into the living room with my cell in his hand. I reached for the phone and tapped the screen to accept the call before it could re-direct to my voice mail.

"Serena Moon speaking," I answered automatically and motioned for Keith to go back to his room. I paused for a moment and shook my head after realizing that I wasn't answering a business call.

"It's good to hear that you're always thinking about work dear, but I think it's okay to loosen up a bit here and there sweetheart," replied the voice at the other end.

"Daddy?" I asked, checking the caller id to make sure I was right.

"Yes, pumpkin, it's me. Just wanted to call and congratulate you on the big news," answered Richard, my adoptive father, in a merry tone.

"Wow, we haven't even announced it officially yet, how'd you find out so quickly?" I asked, trying to calculate the time difference between Japan and California. 'There is no way the news over there could have caught wind of it already,' I thought exasperatedly. There was a 16 hour difference for crying out loud!

"When you've been in the industry as long as I have, nothing gets away from your ears, you should know that by now sweet pea," replied Richard with a chuckle.

"Don't lie daddy, it's now 10 am over here, so it's 2 am over there right now!" I pointed out, shaking my head slightly.

"How kind of you to remind me of the time difference my dear, but can you blame your mother and me for wanting to congratulate you?" Richard reasoned, chuckling as I sighed in defeat.

"You woke mom up just for this?" I asked him incredulously.

"Well, yes, it's pretty big news. Why wouldn't I?" asked Richard.

"Daddy! You know mother needs all the rest she can get," I scolded him.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I wasn't tired anyways," came another voice in the background. I looked down at my phone in disbelief.

"Why are you still up mom?" I asked, shaking my head as I sat down and stared at the phone, as if it was a video screen or something. 'They'll be the end of me,' I thought, rubbing my temples as I felt a migraine coming on.

"Well, your father and I just got home around midnight from one of our outings," answered Sara, my adoptive mother, in her usually bubbly tone.

"Outing?" I asked, wondering where they would be going at such a late hour.

"Yes, I took your mother to an outdoor drive-in and we watched a classic movie," answered daddy. "You know, the same one that I used to take you to see when you started living with us?" he added, painting a mental image in my head.

"Yeah, I remember," I whispered, thinking back to those emotional days.

"Anyways, it was a lovely evening sweetheart. I can see why you two used to go all the time now," said Sara, trying to change the mood to keep me from thinking. I smiled knowing how my mother is always constantly looking out for me.

"I'm glad you liked it," I answered, leaning back on the couch after I set the phone beside me. "But it's 2 o'clock in the morning over there, so you two need to get your rest," I reminded them.

"Yes mother," said Richard as we all burst into laughter. "No, you're right, we should get going," he added in a more serious tone afterwards.

"When will you be making the official announcement dear? Your father and I will fly over to celebrate with everyone," asked Sara before I could say bye.

"Oh, about that, I haven't even thought about that yet. I mean, it just happened last night, so I kind of don't want to announce anything yet," I answered quietly, rubbing my temples lightly.

"Don't be silly, you need to get to it first before some stupid writer starts making all these assumptions and the next thing you know, some scandal will be floating around about you two," stated Sara in her motherly tone.

"Your mother is right Serena," said Richard suddenly.

"Okay, I'll get something together by the end of the day," I said tiredly. 'There is just no time for rest I swear,' I thought to myself.

"Mama, I thought I heard grammy and grampy's voices," interrupted Keith as he came over and sat next to my foot.

"You heard right son," answered Richard as I saw my son's eyes light up with happiness. It has been quite some time since he last spoke to my adoptive parents, so I'm sure he missed them a great deal, seeing as how they helped me raise him while I was attending fashion school.

"Hi cupcake," cooed Sara's voice suddenly. I could only laugh at how mother still cooed at Keith as if he were still a baby.

"Hi grammy! Hi grampy!" called out Keith, picking up my phone and speaking into it loudly before I could grab it from.

"Whoa, why hello there son," laughed Richard as I'm sure his ears were about ready to pop from the loud greeting Keith just shouted.

"Baby, don't yell into the phone, grammy and grampy can hear you just fine," I explained to Keith after setting it back down beside me. I saw his lips form an 'o' shape like he realized the mistake he made and I could see the frown already coming.

"It's okay son, grammy and grampy are happy regardless," interrupted Sara trying to console Keith before he got upset.

"I'm sorry," whispered Keith quietly. I laughed and picked him up to hold him on my lap as I rubbed his back.

"It's okay baby, just try not to do it again okay?" I said gently. "Wanna say night to grammy and grampy so they can go to bed?" I asked, hoping it'll cheer him up a little bit. I saw him smile and nod quickly so I turned the speaker off and handed him my cell after locking the screen so he wouldn't tap anything else on accident. I had the LG Prada touch screen phone, so it was easy to pull up other menus

"Good night pumpkin!" I heard mother call out enthusiastically while she blew kisses to him over the phone. I laughed at the same time as daddy did, we were both well aware of how attached she was to Keith, it was like he was her own child at times.

"Night lil guy, we'll see you soon okay?" daddy said to him with a chuckle as everyone heard Keith shout a 'Yeah!' excitedly while jumping up and down.

"Good night daddy, get some rest please mom," I added before I heard him acknowledge and we both hung up.

"Your parents?" asked Andrew, startling me as I looked up and found him standing over the couch looking down at me. "Sorry," he mouthed quickly after seeing me jump up from my position on the couch.

"Yeah, daddy just had to call and congratulate us. Apparently people in the fashion industry already know," I answered after tossing my phone to the side.

"You think it was someone from the party that slipped the news?" Andrew questioned, handing me a mug as he came around and sat next to me. I shrugged and leaned on him as he wrapped his free arm around my waist.

"I think I'll give everyone a call and see what they think before jumping to conclusions. But just a heads up, there might already be articles printing as we speak," I answered, taking a sip out of the mug. "Oh, my favorite," I replied happily, melting into Andrew's arms as I savored the white chocolate mocha. "How'd you know?" I asked, looking up as I saw him shake his head and laugh.

"Well, I guess the last 5 years of constantly hearing you yell out Starbucks orders to Kayla has paid off huh?" said Andrew, laughing as my lips formed an O shape as I realized he had been around on the various occasions that I had needed caffeine.

"Well, I'm glad you paid attention Mr. Forbes," I replied, poking him in the side as I sat up and placed the bug down before heading towards the kitchen. "Keith baby, have you eaten yet?!" I called out loudly so he could hear me from his room.

"Yes mama!" Keith shouted before poking his head out the door. "But, I can eat again if you make something yummy!" he added eagerly.

"You seemed to have inherited your mother's bottomless pit," laughed Andrew, ducking as I threw a wad of napkins at him.

"I resent that!" I said, waving the spatula at him warningly. I finished making breakfast and set the table before Andrew came back with Keith and they both sat down to eat and talk while I cleaned up.

"Mama, you're not hungry?" called out Keith as I grabbed my cup of coffee and kissed him on the head before heading for my room to change.

"No sweetie, mommy has to get ready for an announcement she has to make today," I answered while I searched for my phone to call Galen.

"Wait, you're making the announcement later?" asked Andrew, sputtering on his coffee as I turned and quirked an eyebrow at him. Had we not just discussed this with my parents not too long ago or was he not paying attention?

"Yes hunnie, I think we discussed that part already," I answered, rolling my eyes as I speed dialed Galen's cell without looking at my phone.

"Galen speaking," greeted Galen while Andrew and I were still talking.

"Should I come too?" asked Andrew, wiping his hands and following me into my room. "I mean, it would look weird if I didn't partake in this," he added defensively.

"Hello?!" yelled Galen loud enough to interrupt our discussion.

"Crap! Hi Galen, sorry about that, totally forget I called you on speed dial," I explained, feeling bad for keeping him on hold this entire time.

"It's okay Rena. What's all the commotion?" asked Galen curiously.

"Oh, right. I need you to do a press release about the engagement for me a.s.a.p. please," I replied, while I walked into my closet to look for an outfit with Andrew following close behind me. 'Seriously Andy,' I thought, not bothering to turn back and deal with him as I rummaged through my clothes.

"Got it doll face. It should be out within the next two hours I'd say," answered Galen quickly. I could hear him flipping through papers and I figured we should cut the conversation short so he could get a hold of the staff to write up the announcement.

"Thanks a mil Galen, I owe you," I whispered before pulling out a cream colored dress. It had a square neckline and empire bust that came down to my knees with a black hook belt that wrapped around the waist and two pockets on the side.

"Sere?" called out Andrew, snapping me out of my train of thought. I had completely forgotten he was still behind me while I was off in my own little world accessorizing my outfit.

"Sorry hunnie," I apologized with a blush, setting everything down and pulling him out of the walk-in towards my bed. "There isn't going to be a physical announcement Drew, just a small announcement will be published in a few magazines," I told him.

"What?" came Andrew's response, turning to me somewhat confused. "So it'll just be like all those gossip columns I see at the news stand?" he asked.

"Gossip columns?" I inquired teasingly. "Just kidding," I added quickly before he could even counter my comment. "Seriously though hunnie, I don't think I've ever heard of a column in any fashion magazine ever having gossip in their headlines," I explained.

"Oh, so it's a fashion magazine. I thought it was going to be one of those stupid things you find at the corner stand or something," said Andrew in a relieved tone.

"Why, afraid this announcement will hurt the firm?" I asked, curious as to why he was so nervous about the editorial announcement.

"No!" Andrew refuted before I could have any time to feign a hurt look. "Not at all babe, please don't get me wrong. I just want to make sure people don't make any stupid assumptions and spread rumors like wildfire," he added, grabbing my arms to reaffirm his stance on the topic.

"Okay, okay, I get it," was my response, trying to peel his tight grasp off my arms that were beginning to go numb. "I was just teasing sweetie, let go already," I added with a laugh before poking him in the side.

"Oh, sorry," replied Andrew, checking my arms to see if there were signs of bruising since my skin was easily agitated.

"Uncle Alex and Aunt Michelle are at the door Mama!" called out Keith from the living room. I ushered Andrew out the door to stall while I quickly changed into my outfit and threw on some accessories before rushing out to meet them.

"Sorry bout that," I apologized, taking a seat next to Michelle, who eyed my outfit fully before nodding her approval at me. "Hey to you too," I laughed as she smacked me playfully on the thigh.

"Galen just called not too long ago. He said something about a column in today's release about your upcoming nuptials?" said Alex, interrupting my quiet discussion with Michelle about my outfit.

"Yeah, daddie called last night," I said before anything else could be said, which ended up ceasing any further questions since we all knew his mind set.

"That explains it. See? I told you so," chided Michelle as she looked at Alex with a smirk that left Andrew and I clueless.

"Huh?" I uttered in confusion. Andrew shook his head and laughed, realizing that Alex must have been coming up with all these crazy reasons as to why we were pushing for an immediate announcement. "Wait, what's so funny? I don't get it," I said, looking at everyone like they had grown another head or something.

~*A.N.*~

Okie.. I'm gonna cut it there so I can spare myself all the scrolling.. I changed my mind and decided to add 2 more chapters.. so 25 total.. not sure where I'm going yet.. but it'll be good.. I have lots of dramatic turning points in store..


End file.
